The Lehigh women’s tennis team concluded its season with a loss to Bucknell University in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals. The No. 5 seed Mountain Hawks fell to No. 4 Bucknell 4-2, which included a narrowly won doubles point for the Bison.
Lehigh finished its 2016 campaign with an overall record of 9-9 (4-4 Patriot). The Mountain Hawks’ four league victories came against Loyola University (Maryland), Lafayette College, Colgate University and College of the Holy Cross in the regular season finale.
Despite falling short of the Patriot League Championship, the team returns the entire roster for next year, including junior captain Jamie Campisi. Campisi picked up a singles victory over Bucknell’s Mishi Papich in the quarterfinals.
Campisi said one highlight of the season was opening league play with a 3-1 start, which included a win over Loyola. Campisi said she is disappointed the season came to an end, but overall, she is proud of the season the Mountain Hawks had.
“Every girl on the team had a strong individual season and had a good record,” Campisi said. “Winning the Patriot League is something we know we’re capable of, the stars just didn’t quite align this year.”
Production was spread out among the team as sophomores Christina Auyeung and Briana Maravich, along with junior Cassidy Cruz, all earned five singles victories against Patriot League opponents this year. Auyeung finished the season as the team’s leader in singles results, with an overall record of 11-6.
Campisi praised her teammates’ positive attitudes all year long. She was particularly impressed with how younger players stepped up. She looks for the added year of experience to help the team to be more consistent in 2017.
“I saw a team of girls very committed to tennis, an enhanced team-first attitude, and a great evolution in team spirit and energy throughout the season,” Campisi said. “I think an issue we ran into was a lot of times different people played well on different days, and we didn’t always have four or five people all play well on the same days during our tough matches.”
Campisi said returning the entire team next season gives her the confidence that the team will improve on this year’s performance. With each player having another full season under their belts, the team will try to build off its experience to achieve its ultimate goal.
“Our goal next year I think will be to just concentrate on playing our best every single day and taking each match as they come, but the end goal is always to win a Patriot League Championship,” Campisi said. “I expect great things from this team next year, as we bring in a strong freshman class adding to an experienced group of returners.”
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