St. John's University Athletics
Women's Tennis Hosts Long-Time Rival UMass Wednesday Afternoon
10/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 4, 2005
Queens, N.Y. - The St. John's women's tennis team (1-0, BIG EAST 0-0) will host the University of Massachusetts (2-0, A10 0-0) on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. The matches will be held on the Courts at St. John's on the Queens campus. Wednesday afternoon's game marks the seventh meeting of the two teams since 1995, in which UMass leads the series 7-0.
STORMWATCH: This year the Red Storm welcomes recent alum Allison Davidson as its head coach for women's tennis. Davidson played two years for the Red Storm and during her last year Davidson went undefeated in regular season play, posting a perfect 13-0 record in singles action. She led the Red Storm to an 11-4 record that included a nine-game match winning streak as the team advanced to the BIG EAST Tournament. At the BIG EAST Tournament, Davidson picked up a win and the No. 5 singles spot, helping St. John's to a third place finish.
Davidson returns five letterwinners and welcomes three newcomers to the Red Storm lineup. Returning for St. John's are seniors Barbora Blahutiakova (Bratislova, Slovakia), Lauren Leo (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Lauren Lorenzetti (Northfield, N.J.); junior Alison Adamski (Jamaica Estates, N.Y.) and sophomore Mariana Chachua (Tbilisi, Georgia). In 2005 spring play, Blahutiakova compiled a 10-4 record in No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Leo posted an 11-3 record in overall singles action. Leo also saw time in doubles with Chachua. The two, who played in all three doubles flights, posted a 9-1 record.
St. John's comes into Wednesday match off a 7-0 sweep of Queens College on Saturday, Oct. 2. Freshman Natalja Tumsevica (Riga, Lithuania) defeated Dominika Bajck in No. 1 singles 6-2, 6-2. Adamski swept her opponent in No. 4 singles 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Gabija Gasiunaite (Kaunas, Latvia) and sophomore transfer Ashley Harper (Millica Hill, N.J.) played in doubles sets for their respective No. 6 and No. 7 singles and won their matches 8-2 each.
GUARDING THE MINUTEWOMEN: Judy Dixon enters her 13th season as head coach of the minutewomen. With a record of 133-113, she is the winningest tennis coach in UMass history. Dixon returns several top players including Michele Spiess, Masha Pozar, Jana Bartoloni, Dorothy Iwanowicz and Susan Johnson.
Spiess currently posts a 6-0 record in singles play. She is the winner of the A Division Singles at the Eastern Collegiate Tournament in 2004. Spiess and Pozar are 4-0 in doubles play for the current season. Spiess is also 2-0 in doubles with freshman Stephanie Gimenez.
In 2004, three of the minute women, Bartoloni, Iwanowicz and Johnson, posted perfect 10-0 records in combined singles and doubles action. Bartoloni is currently 5-1, while Iwanowicz and Johnson are both at 3-1.
UMass enters Wednesday game on a 6-1 win over Middlebury College. Highlighting the match were wins from Spiess and Pozar. Spiess downed Middlebury's Amy Roche, 6-2, 6-3 at No. 1. Pozar beat Elizabeth Emery 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2.
ON DECK FOR ST. JOHN'S: The Red Storm returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9 at the Fordham Invitational. The Red and White will face Akron University on Saturday at 10 a.m. and, in a double header, will play Long Island University at 10 a.m. and Fordham at 3 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information and statistics on St. John's Athletics, please visit www.RedStormSports.com, or call our hotline at 1-888-GO-STORM.
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