Women's Tennis opens spring schedule at BC Saturday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's tennis team begins its competition season on Saturday as it travels to Boston College.

Bryant and Boston College will begin their match at 10:00 a.m.

"Boston College for our first match out after break is a very tall order but it's no different from any other match we will have this season in that we are going there to make them play," Cilli said. "When the match is done, we will see what worked and what needs improvement and move forward. The first few weeks is all about improvement."

Saturday will be the first of 18 matches for the Black and Gold this spring as they look to return to the Northeast Conference Championship match for the second-straight year.

Bryant enjoyed a strong fall campaign that included trips to Quinnipiac and Army, as well as victories over Stonehill and UC Irvine.

The Bulldogs will be led by the reigning NEC Rookie of the Year, Arianna Oropeza (Weston, Fla.). Oropeza enjoyed another strong showing this fall after winning each of her last nine matches and finishing with 15 victories as a freshman.

Bryant, however, will have to deal with the loss of four seniors that were a part of Bryant's lineup for the last four years. Looking to fill those voids will be a host of Bulldogs. Junior Aleksi Gottlieb (Plantation, Fla.) enjoyed a strong fall for the Black and Gold, while true freshmen Ada Boru (Boca Raton, Fla.), Sarah Hickey (Toronto, Canada) and Leanne Kendall (Lakeville, Mass.) all debuted well. Both Hickey and Boru represented Bryant at the ITA Regional Championships.

The Black and Gold will also to the veteran leadership of Megan Tan (Calgary, Alberta) and Gabrielle Bergeron (Quebec, Canada). Bergeron finished 6-6 in singles play last season, while Tan rebounded from an injury to go 6-7 in singles and 8-7 in doubles play.

Saturday begins a seven-week stretch where Bryant will play nine of its 18 spring matches. The Bulldogs will serve as the home team in each of the next five matches as they will welcome Brandeis, Fairfield, LIU Brooklyn, Hofstra and Providence to Rally Point in Greenville.