Women's Tennis Season Preview

Marc Vecchiolla heads into his 27 ^th season as Head Coach of the Mercer women’s tennis program.  He may be lacking numbers, but the energy and enthusiasm of the group is not lacking.  “We have a small yet mighty group right now.”  Vecchiolla is still searching for any interested and experienced players.  “It’s not too late to join.  Players need to be enrolled in 12 credits and have availability for practice and matches after 1:30 PM.”

Currently, the Vikings have four players.  Six players make up a complete scoring team for all flights.  There are three freshmen players Mercedes Medart (Tignee, Belgium), Valeria Vargas (Valencia, Venezuela) and Victoria Woodruff (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert). Sophomore Gwen Guidice (Westfield, NJ/Westfield Senior HS) is the only returning player.

Guidice brings a great deal of experience to the young Vikings team.  Guidice played for MCCC in the 2021 season at age 57.  She served as director of the Princeton Tennis Program for 24 years and was inducted in the Mercer County Tennis Hall of Fame in 2020.  In 2017-2018, Guidice was on the #1 ranked 4.5 doubles team in USTA/Middle States.  Guidice was an All-State player at Westfield High and Vecchiolla views her as an additional coach on the court due to her years involved with tennis. 

The line-up (match flights) has not been established yet. Vecchiolla keeps his goals simple for his team. “The team goals are to work hard, improve and have fun.”  Despite the small team size, “there are some terrific trips planned, as the players will be tested against nationally ranked players on trips to South Carolina and Texas this season.” 

The women’s tennis season opens up on March 23 ^rd with a match at Harford CC in Maryland.  The Vikings will travel to USC Sumter March 31 ^st-April 2 ^nd to play Jones (MS), ABAC (GA) and Meridian (MS).  This trip will feature four teams that finished in the top 15 ^th at the NJCAA Division I National Championship last season: ABAC (Abraham Balwin Agricultural College) finished 7 ^th, Meridian  11 ^th, Jones 13 ^th and USC Sumter 14 ^th. 

On April 5 ^th, the Vikings will play Baruch (NY) at the Billy Jean Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, site of the US Open.  The Vikings’ schedule also features matches against several NCAA Division III schools including Stockton University, St. Elizabeth University, Rutgers Camden and Cairn University.  The Vikings hope to end their season in Tyler, Texas for the NJCAA National Championship May 5 ^th-11 ^th.  Even if the Vikings are unable to field a full scoring team, individual players can qualify for the National Championship.

The Vikings' lone returning tennis player Gwen Guidice

Head Coach Marc Vecchiolla at Nationals last year with Lucy Taffner