2017 Spring Season Begins, W. Tennis Hosts Wofford Sunday

Sunday, January 22

Davidson, N.C.

1:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

Wofford

2017 Spring Season Begins, W. Tennis Hosts Wofford Sunday

1/20/2017 12:33:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Gavin McFarlin - Associate SID

DavidsonPhotos.com

DAVIDSON, N.C. — The Davidson women's tennis team gears up for the Spring season this weekend when they play host to Wofford Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in the Knobloch Tennis Center.

The Wildcats enter their third year in the Atlantic 10 and third season under the guidance head coach Sara Anundsen. She guided Davidson to its best season since 2008 a year ago with 18-5 record and a trip to the A-10 championship match.

Davidson and Wofford will be playing each other for the 26th time, a series that dates back to 1996. The two teams were scheduled to play last year, but the match was canceled. The 'Cats hold a dominating 23-2 advantage in the all-time series and are riding a 16-match win streak which started back in 2003.

In anticipation of the 2017 season, below is a look at the Season Preview ....

The Davidson women's tennis program begins its third year under the guidance of head coach Sara Anundsen. It was quite a season for Anundsen and the Wildcats last year. She led the squad to a perfect 6-0 Atlantic 10 mark, reaching the championship match for the first time, while the 'Cats had their best season since 2008 with an 18-5 record. The 18 wins were the most since a 19-win campaign in 2008.

This year's club will be looking to take another step toward the program's first-ever league title. Davidson will have to replace Elaina Cummer, who finished her four-year career with a combined 84 wins in singles and doubles, getting 42 each in both positions.

Leading the way is the return of five starters, including A-10 all-performers Anna Catharine Feaster, Ava Todd and Gabrielle Centenari. In all, eight of the Wildcats' nine letterwinners return with the addition of two newcomers, and it all adds up to what coach Anundsen and the Wildcats hope to be another successful season.

SINGLES ...
A year after collecting 76 singles wins, Davidson one-upped itself by finishing with an impressive 79 wins last year as a team, 22 of which came against Atlantic 10 foes. It was the fourth straight season with 50-plus singles win. Gone is Elaina Cummer, who had a team-best 15 wins, but returning is Ava Todd (14) Anna Catharine Feaster (14), Centenari (13) and Megan Scholvinck (11) all reached the double-digit win total.

•Senior Jenna Brunner: The Wildcats' main No. 6 singles player, had a solid 9-1 record at the position and finished junior season 9-2 overall ... went a perfect 3-0 in Atlantic 10 matches, scoring wins over George Washington, Duquesne and Dayton ... ran off a personal-best six-match singles win streak to start the season.
•Senior Sarah Stein: Saw action in both singles and doubles, with records of 3-7 and 8-10 on the year ... played mainly No. 6 singles, getting two of the three wins.
•Junior Anna Catharine Feaster: The Wildcats' top singles player, named to the the Atlantic 10 All-First Team for the second year in a row ... picked the A-10 Player of the Week on back-to-back weeks in March ... went 14-6 at No. 1 singles ... opened the season winning six of first eight singles matches, with the two defeats coming in three sets ... scored half of 14 wins on the season at home ... rattled off a five-match win streak and a pair of three-match streaks during season ... helped guide Davidson to the A-10 Championship final by winning final three matches against Duquesne, GW and VCU.
•Junior Ally Sexton: Did not see any action in singles last year ... has a career mark of 5-5 in singles.
•Junior Cassidy Shell: Competed in one singles match during Spring season, falling to Wingate opponent at No. 6 ... also played at No. 6 vs. UNCG, but that match went unfinished.
•Junior Ava Todd: Followed up standout first year with another solid second season for Davidson in 2016 ... named to the Atlantic 10 All-First Team ... earned A-10 Player of the Week, March 1 ... it was fifth of career winning a weekly award ... ... the Wildcats' No. 2 singles player, went 14-6 overall and had a perfect 5-0 league record to move to 10-0 overall in two seasons ... won 12 of 16 matches at No. 2 spot ... ran off a team-high six-match win streak during the season ... won six of 14 singles matches at home ... opened the season winning 10 of first 12 matches.
•Sophomore Gabrielle Centenari: Had an outstanding freshman debut for Davidson, earning a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Second Team ... given the team's Most Improved Award ... tabbed A-10 Rookie of the Week, Feb. 23 ... started out as the 'Cats' No. 4 singles player and moved up to No. 2 in her last six matches ... was third on the team with a 13-7 record, including a perfect 5-0 mark in A-10 matches ... had a season-high five-match win streak on the year, tying for the second highest on the team ... went 5-1 at No. 3 singles ... earned a pair of wins at No. 2 during the A-10 Championship.
•Sophomore Megan Scholvinck: Had a nice debut season for the Wildcats, going 11-6 in singles ... tabbed A-10 Rookie of the Week, Feb. 9 ... finished with a 3-1 A-10 record in singles, getting victories over George Washington, Richmond and Saint Joseph's ... played at No. 3-5 position, collecting six of those wins at No. 4, going 6-3 ... had a perfect 4-0 when going to three sets, picking up three of those wins on the road ... scored seven of 11 wins on the road.

NEWCOMERS ...
•Freshman Alexandra Abele: Four-year letterwinner at Sycamore in Cincinnati, Ohio, playing No. 1 singles ... finished runner-up Ohio Division I singles in 2015, third place in 2014 and runner-up in doubles in 2013 ... three-time All-State First Team pick (2013-15) ... sported a 30-5 record during senior prep season, all at No. 1 singles, while finishing runner-up Ohio Division I Singles ... tallied an overall career record of 117-28 overall, going 98-25 in singles.
•Freshman Samantha Armas: Played at Kennesaw Mountain High in Acworth, Ga., earning four letters ... named all-county tennis player three times (2013, 2014 and 2016) ... recorded a 17-3 record during senior prep season to finish career with a 64-7 mark ... reached Class 6A State Team Tournament Final Four in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 ... four-time Region 4 team champions (2013-2016).

DOUBLES ...
Davidson's doubles teams finished the 2016 season with 33 wins in 61 matches, netting 13 of those victories vs. A-10 foes. The Wildcats used 11 different doubles lineups last year, with nine of them playing either at No. 2 or 3 position. They return every player from all three of their main doubles teams.

• No. 1 position: Half of the top doubles team return in Stein after the graduation of Cummer ... they went 4-7 at No. 1 and collected six overall, getting a 2-1 mark at No. 2 ... also playing at the top spot was Feaster and Sexton, going 6-4 overall and 3-0 in A-10 matches.
• No. 2 position: With a very strong 7-1 record at the No. 2 spot, Feaster and Sexton return and seek to continue their great success together ... they collected a 13-5 overall record, including 6-0 in league matches ... in two years the pair have gone 30-10 in doubles play ... Centenari earned four wins in her six matches with Cummer ... overall, Davidson went 14-6 at No. 2.
• No. 3 position: Six different teams were used at the last doubles position, led by Brunner and Centenari's 3-3 record ... Todd picked up four wins, two each with Scholvinck and Stein, while Scholvinck got another two wins with fellow classmate Centenari.

THE SCHEDULE ...
Davidson will open the season with three straight home matches against Wofford (Jan. 22) and Gardner-Webb (Jan. 28), followed by its first A-10 match against George Washington (Jan. 29). Last year saw the Wildcats go an impressive 8-1 at home and they are 16-5 the last two seasons.

The Wildcats will also play host Rhode Island (Feb. 26), Saint Joseph's (March 12), George Mason (March 19) and Richmond (April 15). They scored wins over four of those teams and will be playing Rhode Island for the first time this year.

A few non-conference highlights include traveling to Tennessee, Feb. 3, for a first-time matchup and facing cross-county rival Charlotte, April 8. The Wildcats lead the all-time series vs. the 49ers, 17-13. Davidson will also face Stetson, East Carolina, and former Southern Conference foes Elon and Appalachian State.

The A-10 Tournament takes place April 26-30 in Orlando, Fla., at the USTA National Campus. Davidson fell to VCU last year in the championship match, giving the Rams its fourth straight league title.

Prior to VCU's four-peat tournament titles, Richmond had won the A-10 Tournament nine of the past 11 years, including four straight years in a row from 2004-2007 and 2009-2012, with Temple winning the other two seasons, 2003 and 2008.