MCCC Women's Tennis Has Highest Ever Finish at NJCAA Division I National Championship

 

5/14/24

 

Mercer women’s tennis placed in the top 25 at the NJCAA Division I National Championship held in Tyler, Texas May 5^th-8^th.  The Vikings tied Sauk Valley for 23^rd place and were just five points away from an 18^th place finish. 

 

Freshman Leticia Kitio (Lawrence, NJ/Lawrence HS) won her opening match at 1^st Singles 6-3, 6-4 but lost 6-0, 6-0 in the second round.  Sophomore Valeria Vargas (Valencia, Venezuela/Instituto Santa Cruz) fell in her opening match at 2^nd Singles 6-1, 6-1 vs but won her Consolation Quarterfinal match 9-8 (5) before falling in the Consolation Semifinals.

 

At 3^rd Singles, freshman Diana Kalajdzic (East Windsor, NJ/Hightstown) lost her opening match 7-5, 7-5 and lost 8-0 in the Consolation Quarterfinal.  Freshman Andrea Vasquez (San Felipe, Venezuela/Hightstown) lost 6-0, 6-1 in her opening match at 4^th Singles and also lost 8-1 in the Consolation Quarterfinals.

 

5^th Singles Makenna Swasey (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) lost 6-1, 6-0 in her opening match, followed by an 8-3 loss in the Consolation Quarterfinal.  At 6^th Singles freshman Jessica Buker (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) lost her opening match 6-0, 6-0 and lost in the Consolation Quarterfinal 8-0.

 

Kitio and Vasquez lost their opening match at 1^st Doubles 6-1, 6-3, but reached the Consolation Quarterfinals before losing a three set tie-breaker 9-8 (3).  At 2^nd Doubles, Kalajdzic and Vasquez lost a hard fought opening match 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8) but advanced to the Consolation Semifinals before losing 8-3.  At 3^rd Doubles, Swasey and Buker lost their opening match 6-0, 6-0 and then lost 8-0 in the second round of the Consolation draw.

 

This year marks the first time MCCC has had a full scoring team at the NJCAA Division I National Championship.  The Vikings made the change from Division III to Division I in 2020, but have not had a full scoring team (six players) participate at the National Tournament since the move to Division I. 

 

The 23^rd place finish is the highest for the Vikings at the Division I level and met Head Coach Marc Vecchiolla’s goal to improve upon last year’s 25^th place finish.  The Vikings have just one sophomore and could return five of their six players for 2025, including Kitio who was ranked 34^th in the country at 1^st Singles.

 

For the latest on MCCC women’s tennis, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_women_tennis.shtml

 

To view the results from the NJCAA National Championship, visit: https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/tournament/3110f0ec-439f-4f57-998a-ff3814bd3104