St. John's University Athletics
Women's Tennis Opens Spring Season At West Point
2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 3, 2006
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's women's tennis team begins their spring schedule on Saturday, Feb. 4 as they take on Binghamton at 2 p.m., and Army at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
The Red Storm enters the spring coming off a challenging fall schedule. The women's tennis team made St. John's history by defeating the University of Massachusetts 4-3 for the first time in a ten year rivalry.
STORMTRACKER
Returning to the Red Storm lineup are seniors Barbora Blahutiakova (Bratislova, Slovakia), and Lauren Lorenzetti (Northfield, N.J.), junior Alison Adamski (Jamaica Estates, N.Y.) and sophomore Mariana Chachua (Tblisi, Georgia).
Blahutiakova will be the backbone of the 2006 squad playing mostly at the No. 2 position. She has become a solid mental and physical player. This fall Blahutiakova produced a 6-1 overall singles record capturing first place at the Bucknell Invitational. She also finished second, along with Chachua, in Flight A doubles at the Invitational.
Adamski steps into the captain position playing mostly at No. 4. Adamski has been a dominant force in doubles action for the Red Storm. This fall she went 6-2 in doubles, posting a perfect 5-0 with Tumsevica. The duo took first place in Flight B at the Bucknell Invitational.
Returning from an injury last spring, Lorenzetti will shine at the No. 4, 5 and 6 positions this season. The New Jersey native worked hard this summer to develop her mechanics and has produced solid strokes this fall.
Chachua enters her second season with the Red Storm and has proven to be quite the competitor. She is the only member of the team to finish the fall with a perfect 6-0 mark. Her win in the deciding match against Massachusetts this October gave St. John's its first team win against the long-time rival. Chachua also grabbed first place in Flight B at the Bucknell Invitational.
Joining the four veterans is sophomore Ashley Harper (Mullica Hill, N.J.) along with freshmen Gabija Gasiunaite (Kaunas, Lithuania) and Nataly Tumsevica (Riga, Latvia). Harper comes to the Red Storm after a year at Morgan State University. This fall, she went 3-2 in singles playing mostly at the No. 6 and No. 7 position.
Meanwhile, Gasiunaite has made many adjustments this fall with St. John's. The Latvia native has had to adapt to a new country and city as well as make the transition from clay to hard courts.
Finishing off the list of newcomers is Lithuania native Tumsevica. In her first season with the Red Storm she took the lead at the No. 1 position. She advanced to the second round of the ITA Northeast Regionals and took second place in Flight A at the Bucknell Invitational.
THE SCHEDULE
The Red Storm begins the spring with nine road matches before coming home in March. The women travel north to West Point, N.Y., to face Binghamton on Feb. 4 and Army Feb. 5 before heading to New Jersey where they will challenge Princeton on Feb. 11. Then, St. John's travels to State College, Pa. to play Marshall on Feb. 18 and Penn State on Feb. 19. February concludes with a trip to Tampa, Fla. to take on the University of North Florida on Feb. 24 and conference newcomer South Florida on Feb. 26.
March starts with a road trip to Morgantown, W. Va., for two BIG EAST matches against DePaul and West Virginia on March 11 and 12, respectively. The Red Storm returns home to the Courts to host Seton Hall on March 24 and then travels to Georgetown on March 26 and Stony Brook on March 30.
On April 1, St. John's collides with Rutgers in conference play and then heads home to host Villanova on April 2. The Red Storm will then face BIG EAST rival Connecticut on the road on April 9 before its last home match of the season against Southern Mississippi on April 10. St. John's finishes the regular season on the road against Syracuse on April 14.
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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