BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The third seeded Moravian University women's tennis squad is ready to travel to top seed Drew University for the 2022 Landmark Conference Championship match starting at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 7 in Madison, New Jersey.
The Greyhounds, being led by first-year Director of Tennis Mariana Freitas, head into the contest with 14-3 record this spring including a 5-2 mark in Landmark Conference action. The Hounds, who advanced to the title match with a 5-2 victory at second seed Goucher College on Tuesday in the semifinals, are the two-time defending Landmark Conference Champions from 2021 and 2019 with the 2020 tournament cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moravian has won a total of five Landmark Conference titles since the conference began competition in 2007-08, and the Greyhounds have a total of 13 conference championships since 1996.
Drew advanced to Saturday's championship match by defeating fourth seed The University of Scranton, 5-3, in Tuesday's other semifinal. Saturday's match is scheduled to be played outdoors at the Drew Tennis Complex but may be moved indoors to the Simon Forum due to the expected rain in the weather forecast.
Junior Maddie Figiel leads the Blue & Grey in singles with a 16-1 record this season while junior Cristina Merone is 15-0 in singles action for the Greyhounds. Freshman Rose Lombardo has a 9-2 singles record while sophomore Mara Stapleton is 9-1 on the year. Senior Morgan Colver has an 8-9 record in her first season with Moravian while junior Julianne Cassady is 7-9 on the year. Sophomore Emily Masters has a 3-3 singles slate while sophomore Megan O'Brien is 2-1 and sophomore Gabby Martin has a 1-0 singles record.
The tandem of Figiel and Merone have combined for a 13-0 doubles record while Merone and Cassady are 3-0 on the year. Lombardo and Stapleton have posted a 11-1 mark in doubles action while Colver and Figiel are 2-0. The duo of Cassady and Colver is 9-4 on the year while Lombardo and Masters have a 1-1 mark and Colver and Merone are 1-0.
The winner of the match will receive an automatic berth to the 2022 NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament. The field and sites for the opening rounds of the tournament will be announced on Monday, May 9 on www.ncaa.com.
