Posted: Mar 14, 2014
About Last Season
The Roanoke College women's tennis program is coming off of one of our best seasons in program history. We set single season records in both overall wins (14) and ODAC victories (10). We also reached our first ODAC Championship game in school history, defeating Hollins 5-3 to reach the title match. We posted a 10-0 record at the Elizabeth Campus Courts, our home facility in Salem.
Recap from the ITA's this Fall
Despite late days due to rain delays, the Maroons had a fantastic showing at the ITA Championships. The freshman team of Emily Henderson and Reed Kegel advanced to the finals of the Blue 1 Doubles bracket, picking up a victory over Washington and Lee's team of Shutley and Vella. However, time kept the finals from being played against Johns Hopkins University.
Kegel also advanced to the finals of her singles draw winning the semi-finals over Emily Greunberg, 8-6. Jenny Antoszyk and Brielle Smith defeated Christine Evangelist and Kaitlyn Pellegrino, 8-1. Lydia Dey defeated Sweet Briar's Gina Rutledge 6-2; 6-0 in the Blue 4 singles draw. Emma Barker put up a victory over Penn State Harrisburg's Theodora Avramidis 6-2; 6-0 in the Blue 5 singles draw. Kaity Diskerud also won in the Blue 6 draw, winning 6-4; 6-0 over Goucher's Sarah Callendar.
We enter the 2014 season ranked 19th in the ITA Division III Atlantic South Regional Poll. This is the same ranking that we finished the 2013 season with, being one of two Old Dominion Athletic Conference in the poll.
Daniel Ragsdale Introduced as head coach in first spring season
We are also proud to introduce our new women's tennis coach, Daniel Ragsdale. Ragsdale joined our squad in August of 2013, and is already making headway on the tennis courts with the team. He comes to us as the Head Tennis Pro at Roanoke Country Club, where he has been since 2011. He was an accomplished collegiate tennis player at Belhaven and Wallace State Community College. Daniel has also helped with the partnership of Roanoke Country Club and Roanoke College by providing an indoor facility for the tennis teams to use during the cold winter months.
About our Returners
Many players return to the squad in 2014 to help make our season as successful as the previous year. Jennifer Antoszyk was our #1 singles player last season and was ranked 15th in the Atlantic South Regional Poll. She was named First Team All-ODAC for her performance last year, posting a 7-1 mark in the #1 spot, including a 4-0 mark against ODAC competitors.
Also returning are Briell Smith and Kristen McDowell. Smith and McDowell both held 8-0 records against ODAC opponents. Smith was 11-3 overall, being named ODAC player of the Week on April 22nd. McDowell held an overall record of 10-3, playing a perfect 2-0 at the #3 singles position. The pair were also named Second Team All-ODAC in #2 doubles, going 7-2 against ODAC opponents.
Kaity Diskerud was Third Team All-ODAC in 2013. She had a 9-4 record and was 6-2 in conference play.
About our newcomers
Lydia Dey, Roanoke native Emma Barker, Reed Kegel and Emily Henderson have all joined the squad this year and will add even more depth to our already great team.
About our Schedule
This fall I saw a lot of improvement in everyone's athleticism and playing ability and we want to build on that. Over the next month we will work hard on doubles teams, forming the singles ladder and working together as a team before kicking off the dual match schedule in Fredericksburg at Mary Washington on February 14th.
We start our season against #12 regionally ranked Christopher Newport University on February 15th. On the same day, we will play against #9 ranked Methodist Unviersity, playing top teams in our opening contests. On February 16th, we will take on #5 ranked University of Mary Washington as well. On February 22nd, we host our home opener against Ferrum and Southern Virginia.
On March 3-6, we will travel to Hilton Head, SC for our Spring Break action, where we will face off against Wilkes University, St. John Fisher College, and the University of Mount Union. We return to ODAC action on March 15th where we play against Virginia Wesleyan University. On April 1st, we will face off against #6 ranked Washington and Lee University in a rematch of the ODAC Championship match of 2013.
Alumni Weekend Activities
On Saturday, April 12, we will have a special event for both our men's and women's tennis alumni with "Tennis Alumni Day" from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM at the Elizabeth Campus Courts. We are playing "King of the Court" format mixed doubles plus a "hit for prizes" contest. Some of the prizes to be won are RC Tennis hats, t-shirts, wristbands and much more!
Honoring Coach Phil Benne at Alumni Match
During the event, we will take a moment for a special presentation for Phil Benne, who retired as head men's tennis coach last summer after 25 years of service to Roanoke College Tennis. He will remain on the athletic staff at RC as the head women's soccer coach.
Benne, who has the second-most wins in ODAC Women's Soccer history, also holds that claim in men's tennis among ODAC Coaches with over 150 career match victories. His best years were from 2004-08, as his teams finished second in the league all five years. He was named the ODAC Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2004, while coaching 23 All-ODAC selections, three ODAC Rookies of the Year and an ODAC Player of the Year.
He has served in various capacities at Roanoke College, from admissions, to event manager, to the fitness center manager in addition to men's tennis and women's soccer coaching responsibilities. He has given a quarter of a century to Roanoke College Athletics and is deserving of this recognition. If you're interested in attending the event during alumni weekend, please contact Brad Moore at moore@roanoke.edu to sign up for the event.
Those who have signed up for the Maroon Club to support the tennis programs will also receive a gift package as well at the event. For those who have not signed up but want to join the Maroon Club, please contact Brad Moore at moore@roanoke.edu or at (540) 375-2344. To sign up online, please click HERE.
Attention Maroon Club members!
For our alumni who are Maroon Club members, be on the lookout for the Maroon Club newsletter which will be coming out in early March. It will recap the winter season along with previews from each of our nine spring sports and talk about the events coming up, including the Maroon Club golf outing April 11 at the Roanoke Country Club. For more information about the golf outing, please click HERE.
Thank You!
I want to conclude by saying THANK YOU to our supporters of the women's tennis program through the Maroon Club. The training equipment we received, the upgrades to our facility, the support for our spring break trip to Hilton Head, the team meals on the road and the video hardware and software could not be possible without the help of our parents, alumni and friends of the program.
While we enjoyed a banner fall season in 2013, other teams are getting better and we want to remain on the rise as one of the top teams in our league. We need your support to continue our rise as one of the top men's tennis programs in the ODAC!
Thanks again for your continued support of the Roanoke College Women's Tennis program!
