Davidson Seeks Program's First SoCon Title; Opens 2010 Season This Weekend

2010 Schedule

DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Davidson women's tennis team will start its quest for the program's first Southern Conference Title when they open up the 2010 season with a pair of matches this weekend vs. Gardner-Webb and USC Upstate.

The Wildcats will play Gardner-Webb at 10 a.m. on Saturday and then finish out the doubleheader with a match against USC Upstate at 3 p.m.

In anticipation of the 2010 season, below is a look at the Season Preview....

Now in her 28th season at the helm, head coach Caroline Price will enter the 2010 campaign in solid position to help the program capture its first Southern Conference tournament title after finishing runner-up three of the past four years, and making the quarterfinals a season ago.

The Wildcats look to make it nine straight years with a winning mark after concluding the 2009 slate with an even 12-12 mark overall and 6-4 in SoCon play. It was the eighth straight season the Wildcats reached double digits in wins. Of coach Price's 27 seasons, the Wildcats have finished at or above .500 in 22 of them.

This year's club will feature the return of seven letterwinners from a season ago, including All-SoCon First Team member Virginia Berry. Of the seven returners, six of them saw action in both singles and doubles play.

Singles
After finishing with 100 singles wins in 2008, Davidson fell a bit short, closing 72-68. The 'Cats had a very impressive 36-24 record vs. SoCon foes a year ago, with three players finishing with a winning mark in league matches.

• Senior Virginia Berry: Had an very impressive junior campaign, going a team-best 17-6, matching her career high in wins ... was 16-6 at No. 2 ... earned All-SoCon First Team honors after being a second-team pick last year at No. 2 singles ... had a 9-1 league mark ... had an eight-match win streak last year ... went 10-3 in home matches.
• Senior Teresa Wang: Forced to miss all of junior season with an injury ... sophomore season saw the senior drop just two matches ... finished 12-2 overall, including a perfect 5-0 (3-0 SoCon) at No. 6 ... had a team-and personal-high 11-match win streak during 2008.
• Senior Ali Gores: Saw first extended action in lineup and responsed with a career junior season ... one of four 'Cats to reach double digits in singles wins, going 10-13 ... was an even 5-5 in SoCon matches ... twice had a three-match win streak.
• Junior Samantha Galainena: Tallied a career-best nine singles wins in second year, going 9-9 ... had a 5-2 mark vs. SoCon opponents ... closed second year winning five of final six matches ... rattled off a four-match win streak during that stretch ... mainly filled in at No. 6 singles, going 8-7 overall.
• Junior Alison Rauh: Closed sophomore campaign with a 7-15 record, getting three of the wins in SoCon matches ... played all 22 matches at No. 3 singles.
• Junior Molly Verlin: Won her first collegiate match with a 6-1, 6-0 win vs. Wingate at No. 6 ... expected to provide depth in the starting lineup.
• Sophomore Katharine Dicconson: Earned first collegiate win with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Wingate, Feb. 7 ... will look to fill one of the open singles slots in second year ... played in three singles matches overall.
• Sophomore Romina Clemente: A doubles specialist last year for Davidson ... went 5-8 in doubles play, getting four of those wins against league opponents.
• Sophomore Stephani Synn: Missed all of freshman campaign ... was a four-year letterwinner for Hickory High ... saw action in four of the Wildcats 2009 Fall events.

Newcomer
• Freshman Catherine Wood: Played in three Fall events ... was ranked as high as No. 1 in the state of North Carolina in UTSA Juniors ... ranked as high as 115th in nation per tennisrecruiting.net ... holds school records for most wins with 107 in singles and doubles ... MVP, Most Improved and team captain during prep career.

Doubles
    Davidson's doubles play finished the 2009 season with a 34-37 mark, and closing with an even 15-15 record in SoCon matches.

• No. 1 position: The Wildcats had three players rotate at the No. 1 spot ... the team of Berry and Rauh return after going 5-7 at the top spot ... the duo opened the year winning three of their first four matches ... Davidson was 11-13 overall at the No. 1 spot.
• No. 2 position: The Wildcats No. 2 spot saw five different combinations as they all finished with a combined record of 10-14 ... Rauh and Clemente had the most decisions at No. 2, going 3-6 and 2-5 in SoCon play ... Rauh finished with five total wins to pace all Wildcat players.
• No. 3 position: Half of the No. 3 team returns as Ali Gores will be looking for a new partner ... Gores and Molly McDevitt went 6-5 as the main No. 3 team for Davidson ... they scored five of the wins in league matches ... the duo won six of their first eight matches together midway through the season ... Gores also teamed with Galainena for a 5-4 record ... Clemente and Dicconson also played one match together at No. 3, going 1-0.

The Schedule
    Davidson will open the season with four straight home matches, starting on Jan. 16 against Presbyterian. Also visiting the Covington Tennis Courts will be Gardner-Webb, USC Upstate and Wingate, with the 'Cats having a combined 19-1 all-time against those four teams.

Besides those four non-conference teams, the Wildcats' non-conference schedule will also include Virginia Tech, Radford, East Tennesse State, Winthrop, South Carolina State and cross-county rival Charlotte. Davidson will also make a trip to Charleston, S.C. to play neutral site matches vs. Case Western Reserve and Richmond.

The Wildcats will open SoCon play at home against Samford and Western Carolina, Mar. 13-14. They defeated the Bulldogs, who joined the league last year, for the first time, 4-3 . Davidson has finished with at least seven wins against league opponents in six of the last seven years. The 'Cats went 6-4 against league opponents last season.

The SoCon Tournament takes place April 24-25 at the highest seed. This year's tournament will only feature the top-four teams in the league standings. Davidson and the rest of the field will be looking once again to knock off Furman, which has taken 10 of the past 12 tournament titles. College of Charleston captured last season's tournament title. The Wildcats have reached the finals three times in the past five season, but have yet to bring home the tournament title.

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