Athletics

Varsity Sports

Women's Tennis

Overview

Six of the top seven singles players and all three doubles teams return in 2012-13 for the Hamilton College women's tennis team. Hamilton won seven dual matches last season, which was the program's highest total since 2005-06. The seniors are Alex Arenson '13, Vrinda Khanna '13, Melissa Mann '13 and Aislinn Shea '13. Arenson won four matches at first and second flight singles, and paired up with Meg Lee '14 to form the Continentals' top doubles team. Shea posted six victories at fifth and sixth flight singles. Sara Shaughnessy '14 enjoyed the best season in 2011-12 with a team-high 12 singles wins. Shaughnessy also competed with Liz Detwiler '15 at third doubles. Mira Khanna '15 and Carrie Uhlein '15 led Hamilton with seven doubles victories, and Rachel Friedman '15 recorded five singles wins -- mostly at sixth flight.

Hamilton competes in the NESCAC, which is arguably the top women's tennis conference in NCAA Division III. The NESCAC has produced eight NCAA team champions, six runners-up, four singles champs and seven doubles winners. The 2012 singles bracket runner-up was from a NESCAC shcool. Five NESCAC programs made the 2012 NCAA Championship, two teams advanced to the national semifinals and one captured the Division III title. The Continentals play six or seven conference matches every spring. The season concludes in early May with the 2013 NESCAC Championship at Amherst College. Six teams qualify for the event and the winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA championship. Hamilton played a NESCAC schedule in 2007 for the first time in program history.

The 2012 fall schedule includes the USTA/ITA Northeast Regional championship at William Smith College and the New York State championship at Ithaca College. The team travels to Orlando, Florida, and plays a handful of matches during Hamilton's two-week spring break in March. The Continentals won four of five matches in Florida last year.

Deborah Barany '11 graduated after racking up 48 singles victories from 2007 to 2011. Barany ranks second on Hamilton's career list with that total. She was also an outstanding student, as she made three all-academic teams and was elected to the Epsilon chapter of Phi Beta Kappa in 2011. Phi Beta Kappa is the nation's oldest honor society. Barany reached the finals of the championship singles draw at the 2007 USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championship in her first year. She was the third different Hamilton women's player to reach the singles draw finals of the regional tournament since 2000.

Sarah Coleman was the first Hamilton women's tennis player on the NESCAC all-conference team. Coleman made the first team for her singles play in 2006. She made an impact right away in her first year as she was voted player and rookie of the year by the New York State Women's Collegiate Athletic Association (NYSWCAA). Coleman won the 2004 Northeast Region singles title, and later became the first Hamilton player to capture the first flight singles crown at the state championship since the event was first held in the early 1970s.

The Continentals finished second out of 16 teams at the 2005 NYSWCAA Championship -- the program's best showing ever in the event. Hamilton won its first nine dual matches during the 2004 fall season. The 2002 fall season was a special one for the program as the Continentals compiled a 10-1 dual meet record. Lindsey Schantz '03 won the Northeast Region singles title. Schantz is the program's all-time leader in singles victories with 56. Eileen Wildman '01 was part of a program-record 52 doubles wins and added 41 singles wins from 1997 to 2001.

Exceptional academic performance is another important piece of the women's tennis program. Barany was selected to the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America Women's At-Large team in the College Division by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She earned a spot on the 2011 NESCAC Spring All-Academic team, and was named a 2010-11 ITA Division III scholar-athlete. Arenson and Amelia Mattern '12 were ITA Division III scholar-athletes as well, and Hamilton collected a 2010-11 ITA National Division III All-Academic Team award for a cumulative team grade point average of 3.20 or better. In 2012, four student-athletes made the NESCAC spring all-academic team.

The Continentals play their home matches on campus at Gray Tennis Courts. The nine-court facility was resurfaced in 2006. In the event of poor weather conditions, the team moves inside to adjacent Margaret Bundy Scott Field House. The field house was renovated and resurfaced in 2010, and accommodates four tennis courts.