WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — The Wagner women's tennis team will compete at the NEC Tennis Championships starting on Thursday, April 16.
Last season, the Seahawks earned the sixth seed in the tournament, and upset No. 3 Stonehill in the first round 4-1, before losing in the semifinals to No. 2 Saint Francis. This season, Wagner was picked fifth in the preseason poll after returning two All-NEC performers from last season, sophomores
Liepa Sataite and
Victoria Madail.
Wagner struggled in the non-conference slate, only picking up a win against Monmouth. But the Seahawks bounced back in the conference schedule, defeating Stonehill 5-2 in their first NEC match on March 13 after winning five of six singles matches. They dropped their next match against NEC No. 1 FDU, then bounced back with consecutive conference wins against Chicago State (4-1), and Le Moyne (4-1).
Wagner finished 3-2 in the NEC and earned the No. 4 in the tournament, the highest seed in program history.
Individually, Sataite became the first Seahawk since 2015 to win NEC Player of the Week. Madail picked up five NEC Prime Performer nods, and junior
Dariana Vera added another Prime Performer nod this season.
Madail also came away with the highest winning percentage in first singles (.667) and second singles (1.000). Sataite joined senior doubles partner
Samantha Bentsianov to earn the highest winning percentage in third doubles (.750).
The Seahawks will open the Championships against no. 5 Stonehill on Thursday, April 16. First serve is set for 9 a.m. at the Mercer County Tennis Center.
