2011 SEASON IN REVIEW
May 8, 2012
The 2011 Emmanuel Tennis Team wrapped up the season by making the program's 9th-straight appearance in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament. The Saints went 13-3 overall, dropping just two regular season GNAC matches. The season included a late five-match win streak, before the Saints suffered a 5-4 heart-breaking loss to Emerson College in the GNAC Semifinals. Three Emmanuel athletes received All-Conference honors for their play during the 2011 campaign.
The Saints opened the season by winning their first four matches. Twelfth-year head coach Rob Miller recorded his 100th career win in Emmanuel's fourth win of the season, a 9-0 sweep of Albertus Magnus College on September 24th. During the second week of the season, three of Emmanuel's doubles teams competed in the 27th Annual Grass Courts Doubles Tournament in Newport, Rhode Island. The 1st doubles team of Taylor Dey (Woodbridge, Conn.) and Alex Hadlock (Framingham, Mass.) captured 1st place, winning the Flight A Championship at the historic Tennis Hall of Fame.
For the third-straight season, Dey competed in the top singles spot for the Saints. She finished the season at 9-5 overall, 3-3 GNAC. Dey was named to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll on September 12th and received GNAC All-Conference honors for the third consecutive year.
Hadlock, Dey's first doubles teammate locked up the No. 2 singles position and cruised to an 11-3 mark with a 4-2 GNAC record in 2011. Hadlock received GNAC honors three times during the season, as she was named the GNAC Rookie of the Week (9/12/11), the GNAC Player of the Week (9/19/11) and to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll (9/26/11). She wrapped up a stellar rookie season by being selected GNAC 1st Team All-Conference.
Playing third singles for the Saints was sophomore Amanda Woznicki (Bristol, Conn.), who earned a 10-5 record. Woznicki was named the GNAC Player of the Week on September 26th and represented Emmanuel by earning a spot on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
Along with Dey, junior Jenna Reid (Lincoln, R.I.) earned GNAC All-Conference honors for the third year in a row. Reid went 11-3 from her No. 4 singles slot this season. She posted a 4-2 GNAC record and was named to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll on October 3rd.
Sophomore Jenny Konecnik (Sparta, N.J.) compiled the best overall record for the Saints this season. Competing in the No. 5 singles position, Konecnik won 14 of her 16 matches this season and went 6-1 in GNAC play. Konecnik wrapped up the season with a straight-set win over her Emerson College opponent in the GNAC semifinals.
Freshman Jenni Hewes (Cape Elizabeth, Me.) tore up the court in her rookie season for the Saints, boasting a 13-1 overall record at 6th singles, including going on a nine-match win streak to end the 2011 season. Hewes went 5-1 in GNAC play and was honored by the conference four times during the season, including the final four weeks of the campaign. She was named the conference's Rookie of the Week on September 19th and October 17th and was named to the GNAC Weekly Honor Roll on October 10th and October 24th.
Dey and Hadlock combined for a 5-5 mark in doubles play. Konecnik and Woznicki teamed up for a 6-4 record in the No. 2 doubles slot, while Hewes and Reid went 6-3 at third dubs.
The Saints will lose three seniors to graduation this May, including co-captains Erin Thornton (Worcester, Mass.) and Victoria Trull (Lowell, Mass.), as well as Lauren Lesko (Plymouth, Mass.). Both Thornton and Trull have been four-year players with the Saints, while Lesko joined the squad for her final three years at Emmanuel.
Head Coach Rob Miller and Assistant Coach Molly Honan will return twelve veterans from the 2011 squad for the upcoming year. The Saints will look to continue their streak of GNAC post-season appearances, as the team strives to win the program's third GNAC title.