NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion University women’s tennis team is now ranked No. 67 in the country, as announced by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (The Governing Body of College Tennis) after jumping out to a 6-2 overall start and pummeling Richmond (7-0) and Temple (5-2) this past weekend.
"This is a testament to the hard work our players, coaches, and staff have put in,” said head coach Dom Manilla. “We are excited to be recognized amongst the best nationally but are eager to keep climbing the ladder. We will use this a confidence boost and continue to move forward.”
Old Dominion started off the season handling Howard (4-1) and Norfolk State (7-0) convincingly. The Lady Monarchs then traveled to Philadelphia where they got the better of the University of Pennsylvania, 4-3. Last week, Penn was nationally ranked No. 68. ODU also was too much for the Mountaineers of West Virginia University (6-1).
Manilla is having a very solid showing from both upper and underclassmen to this point in this season. This past weekend in singles, Old Dominion had a sophomore at No. 1, freshmen at No.’s 2 and 3, and a sophomore at No. 4. Even then, two of ODU’s seniors have also shined thus far, as Melissa Esnal Olguin currently posses a 5-1 single’s record, while fellow Lady Monarch senior Nika Khmolovska has won five of her first seven single’s matches.
In double’s play, Old Dominion’s fabulous freshmen duo of Ingrid Vojcinakova and Marijana Novakovic are 4-1 while teaming-up together.
Manilla still is not willing to settle and understands their stiff competition will continue, “Our eyes are set on competing hard the rest of the season with a very tough schedule ahead of us."
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