Feb. 17, 2010

The word that most describes the women's tennis roster this season is balance. The 12 player roster includes six upper and six underclassmen. The breakdown by class is four juniors and four freshman leaving two seniors and two sophomores to round out the roster. Balance is good, but coaches like talent and experience as well and the Patriots are equipped with that as well.

The George Mason women's tennis team returns eight players, including three players in the line-up with a winning singles record last season. Senior Meredith Cutchin, junior Aryn Christman and sophomore Brooke Blackwell all recorded winning records for the Patriots and #1 singles player junior Lindsay Gray finished at 11-12, but six of those losses came in the tough CAA conference.

Our main goal for this season is to build a team that continues to improve and continues to close the gap with the nationally recognized programs in our conference and our region," stated Coach Steve Curtis.

Gray played her first two collegiate seasons at #1 singles facing some of the most talented competitors in not only the CAA, but also the country, but there's no guarantee she will stay at that position with the recruiting class that came into Mason this year. Freshmen Kiersten Pappas and Alison Wingo will challenge Gray and Blackwell giving Coach Curtis more depth at the top.

Pappas has been ranked as high as the fourth in the Virginia 18's rankings and as high as 15th in the Mid-Atlantic region. She has been ranked as one of the top 100 players in the region since 2003, reaching as high as 11th. "As the Virginia State high school runner-up the last two years, Kiersten has a very strong all court game that is combined with great power, consistency and accuracy," said Coach Curtis explaining the strengths of Pappas game. Pappas began her collegiate career in the fall with an unblemished 6-0 dual match record from #1 singles.

Sophomore Brooke Blackwell, who had knee surgery over the summer, finished her freshman campaign with a 11-10 overall singles record, 11-8 from #2 singles. Her competition against top singles players last year should produce a lot of points from the #3 or #4 singles positions.

Wingo will compete for one of the top four spots in the line-up. Wingo came to Mason after spending the past two years training at the International Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Fla. As a sophomore in high school, Wingo accomplished an extremely rare feat. After competing for the Hampton Roads Academy team that won the Virginia state championship she moved to Florida and won the state title there for American Heritage high school. She won the Florida high school state doubles championship as a senior.

Two other freshmen Cecelia Greco and Andrea Londen are expected to be factors in the Patriots success this year. A native of Haymarket, Va., Greco was named Washington Post Player of the Year twice. Londen, from Paradise Valley, Arizona, was MVP for Notre Dame Prep last year and recorded an unblemished 22-0 record. Curtis will also look to Greco and Londen to make major contributions in the doubles line-up. Upperclassmen Christman, who went 8-1 in the fall, and Cutchin will bring their experience to the back end of the line-up and will be the primary battlers for final playing spots with newcomers Greco and Londen. Returning to the line-up and rounding out the 12 -player roster are Stephanie Longueria, Catherine Crisostomo and Kristen Davis.

"I really like our depth this season," added Curtis. "The addition of the four freshmen to our team that only lost one starter, Alicia Van Zandt, from last season will make us a much more solid team top to bottom."

Curtis is optimistic that the Patriots can improve upon last season's 9-12 record, which included going 0-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Patriots are already off to improving on that record after finishing the fall season with a perfect 6-0 record for the first time in school history.

The Patriots are scheduled to play a total of 24 times before the CAA Championships held on April 15-18. Mason will play only eight matches at home, 11 on the opponents home court and play three matches during spring break at Hilton Head, S.C. Mason once again opens the spring season with two matches at the VCU 4+1 tournament.

The CAA is full of tough competition once again. The College of William and Mary, Georgia State, Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth University go into the season nationally ranked. The Patriots will play VCU in the opening season tournament, but will not face the Tribe, Panthers or Monarchs in the regular season play.