Pictured Above: Seniors Samantha Hodges, Brenda Cumpa and Carolyn Gibson (Credit: Dave Saffran)
2018 Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship Headquarters
West Windsor, NJ – After concluding the 2017-18 regular season with a 6-1 Senior Day victory over Monmouth on Tuesday, the Wagner women's tennis team gears up for the 2018 Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship, which commences on Friday, April 20 at the Mercer County Tennis Center in West Windsor, NJ.
The NEC announced on Monday afternoon that the Seahawks are the No. 7 seed in the tournament, as the they will take on the Bryant University Bulldogs, who earned the No. 2 seed in this year's conference tournament. The match is set to begin not before 11:30 a.m.
The eight-team tournament field pits the top overall seed and defending league champion LIU Brooklyn against No. 8 seeded St. Francis Brooklyn. The No. 3 seed Saint Francis U takes on the No. 6 seeded Mount St. Mary's. The quarterfinals conclude in the 4-vs.5 match, that features the No. 4 seed Sacred Heart against Fairleigh Dickinson.
All-Time Series: Wagner is looking for its first-ever victory over Bryant, as the Bulldogs hold a 4-0 edge in the head-to-head series.
About Wagner:
- The Green & White finished the regular season with a 7-8 overall record and a 3-3 mark in league matches.
- Individually, sophomore Vedika Anand, paced the club with 11 singles wins.
- The second-year Seahawk, along with senior Brenda Cumpa, earned a team-high four conference singles wins this season.
- Both Anand and senior Samantha Hodges represented the program at the 2017-18 ITA Northeast Regional, held at the University of Pennsylvania.
- Hodges, Cumpa and classmate, Carolyn Gibson, enter this weekend's NEC Tournament with 48 combined wins in singles play.
- Hodges leads the way with 23 career singles wins, the fourth-most in program history since 2004.
- In doubles action, the pairing of Anand and junior Rina Baynes led the way with four victories.
- The Seahawks have been successful at No. 1 singles this season, going 10-5 on the season as Anand earned nine of the ten victories.
- The Green & White are the No. 7 seed for the second time in a four-year span. The last time the Seahawks were the seventh seed was back in 2015, when they took on the Bulldogs, falling 4-0.
About Bryant:
- The Bulldogs, who finished the regular season at 9-8 and 2-1 in league play, are looking to hoist the NEC championship trophy for the first time since the 2015 season.
- The Bryant senior class, composed of Ashanti Campfield, Stefanie Arroyo, Nina Luiggi and Linnea Sjoberg, combined for 29 singles victories this season.
- Arianna Oropeza and Arroyo were the lone members of the team to reach double-digit wins, with Oropeza leading the way with 12 wins while Arroyo picked up 10 victories this season.
- Luiggi and Sjoberg led the way for the Bulldogs with eight doubles victories.
Up Next:
- The winner of the Wagner/Bryant matchup will take either the No. 3-seeded Saint Francis U or No. 6-seeded Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, April 21 at 11:30 a.m.
