The Young Lady J’s Are Clicking in Their New Year

By Julia Lavelle

Senior Staff Writer

The MC women’s tennis team is well under way to a great 2009 season.

The team opened their season on September 11 at the NJIT Invitational. The tournament was a three-day event and included seven schools. The Lady Jaspers had a good showing and are now preparing for their home opener at the United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

This is their home court and is located in Flushing, N.Y.

The team consists of senior Morgan MacTaggart, junior Nora Hulton Sacchi, three sophomores and five freshmen. The sophomores include captains Hilary Valenzuela and Christina Ton, as well as teammate Christine Krasinski. The five freshmen are Lili Johnson, Diana Lorentz, Christina Puelo, Caroline Rienzo and Stephanie Tsao.

The Lady Jaspers spent the preseason getting to know each other and developing chemistry to take on the court. The freshmen have been easily accepted and are fitting in nicely.

Commenting on their rookies, captain Christina Ton said, “With the loss of three seniors last year, the five freshmen have been a very nice edition to our team. We consider ourselves very lucky—all the girls clicked right from the beginning and immediately showed signs of camaraderie. We have all become very good friends.”

With such a close-knit team and talent to accompany them, the Lady Jaspers are looking to make an impression this season. Captain Hilary Valenzuela said that the team has high goals but that she truly believes that with the group of players they have the goals are very attainable.

“Of course, our ultimate goal would be to win the MAACs later this spring, but we are focusing on each match as its own entity,” said Valenzuela. “We already opened our season with the NJIT Invitational and overall, the team performed better than expected. We have an optimistic outlook for the rest of the year.”

There will be no lack of positive energy, high intensity play and dedication on the tennis team this year.

The team plays today, September 23 in a match against the Hawks of Monmouth University. They open MAAC play on Sunday, October 17 against Rider University. Go Lady J’s!