BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The second seeded Moravian University women's tennis squad travels to top seed Drew University on Saturday, April 29 for the 2023 Landmark Conference Tournament Championship match beginning at 11:00 a.m. at the Drew Tennis Complex. If it is raining, the contest will be played in the Simon Forum at Drew.
The Greyhounds enter the contest with an 18-3 record this spring including a 6-1 mark in Landmark Conference action under the guidance of second-year Director of Tennis Mariana Freitas. Moravian is in the postseason for the sixth consecutive year. The Hounds, who have won five Landmark Conference titles and a total of 13 conference championships in program history, posted a 5-0 win over third seed Goucher College in the Semifinals while the Rangers had a 5-0 win over fourth seed The University of Scranton to advance.
Moravian fell to Drew, 7-2, when the squads met in Bethlehem back in March during the regular season, and the Rangers posted a 5-2 victory a year ago when the two teams met in the 2022 Landmark Conference Championship match.
Senior Maddie Figiel leads the Hounds with a 17-1 record in singles action while senior Cristina Merone has a 16-4 singles mark. Sophomore Rose Lombardo is undefeated in singles action at 12-0 while freshman Izzy Szmodis has a 13-6 record. Senior Julianne Cassady has a 12-8 singles slate while junior Mara Stapleton has recorded a 10-4 mark in singles play. Junior Megan O'Brien is 4-1 in singles contests while junior Gabby Martin is 1-0 in singles action.
The doubles tandem of Figiel and Merone has a 19-2 mark this season, breaking the program record for wins in a single year by a doubles team, while Cassady and Szmodis have combined for a 16-5 doubles record. Lombardo and Stapleton have a 10-4 doubles slate this year. Junior Emily Masters has seen action in one doubles contest with Stapleton, and Masters has also played in a singles match.
The winner of Saturday's Championship match earns an automatic berth to the 2023 NCAA Division III Tournament in May.