SELINSGROVE, Pa. - The Susquehanna University women’s tennis team will have to overcome the loss of its top two players from 1999 in order to improve upon last season’s 4-7 overall record, but seventh-year head coach Bob Jordan will look to a solid group of sophomores and an impressive freshman to push the team toward the top of the Commonwealth Conference standings.
Susquehanna opens its 2000 season on Thursday, September 7 with a home match against King’s College.
The Crusaders need to replace the team’s top two players from last season in 1999 co-captains Meghan McGinnis, who went 8-5 last season and was a Middle Atlantic Conference quarterfinalist, and Sarah Curley, who won 23 matches in her career.
Hoping to make her own mark on the program will be freshman Tara McHugh (Jeannette, Pa./Hempfield Area H.S.), who will play number-one singles in her rookie season. McHugh was a WPIAL doubles champion and PIAA Class AAA doubles quarterfinalist as a prep senior last year. She will be backed up at number-two singles by sophomore Kelly Moritz (York, Pa./York Suburban H.S.), who played singles in eight matches last season and compiled a 1-7 record at number-three and number-four.
Holding down number-three singles for the second straight season is sophomore Carly Kellett (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley H.S.), who chalked up a solid 5-6 record in 1999 and was above the .500 mark at 4-3 at number-three singles as a freshman. The number-four singles player will be sophomore Emily Kurtz (St. Mary’s, Pa./St. Mary’s H.S.). A member of the women’s basketball team, Kurtz won the District 9 championship and qualified for the PIAA championships in doubles in 1998 as a high school senior.
Number-five singles will be handled by senior Allison Johnson (Audubon, N.J./Audubon H.S.), who returns to action in 2000 after not playing during the 1999 campaign. As a sophomore in 1998, Johnson played primarily at number-four singles and finished the season with a 1-7 record. Rounding out the starting lineup for the Crusaders is freshman Tamara Cypress (Richmond, Ind./Richmond H.S.) at number-six singles.
In doubles play, the Crusaders will be anchored at number-one by McHugh and Kurtz, both of whom have played in PIAA state doubles championships. Kellett and Moritz will team at number-two doubles following a 1999 season that saw the duo fashion a 3-2 mark at number-two as freshmen. The number-three doubles pairing consists of senior captain Allyson Jones (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen H.S.) and sophomore first-year player Kait Gillis (Mechanicsburg, Pa/Trinity H.S.). Jones played doubles exclusively last season and posted a 3-5 overall record, partnered primarily with sophomore lefty Kristin Einsel (Hershey, Pa./Hershey H.S.). Gillis, also a member of the women’s basketball team, lettered in tennis during her scholastic career.
