WESTON, Mass. – The Regis College women's tennis team has begun preparations for the fall 2018 competition season, one that will see a new head coach on the sidelines but several returning players on the court.
Andy White takes over as Pride head coach, but he is no stranger to Regis tennis. White played for the Regis men's tennis team from 2010 to 2014, collecting 34 singles wins and 45 doubles wins while earning All-Conference honors twice in his collegiate career. White has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach, helping the Pride make the transition into the GNAC.
The Pride posted an 11-6 overall record last year, including a 5-1 mark within the GNAC to finish second in the regular season standings. Regis lost to Simmons in the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament in 2017 and will look to improve upon that performance this season.
Three players who earned All-GNAC honors last year are back for the Pride, led by 2017-18 GNAC Rookie of the Year Carly Donovan. As a freshman, Donovan immediately moved into the number one singles position last year and posted an 11-6 overall record, winning five of her six conference singles matches as well as accounting for Regis's lone point in the GNAC semifinals.
Katasha Jarvis also received First Team All-GNAC recognition last season after going 9-7 in the number two singles position and 11-6 in the number one doubles position. With 39 singles victories over the past three years, Jarvis is closing in on the Regis record for most career singles wins.
Ariana McCormack picked up Second Team All-GNAC honors thanks to a 10-2 record in singles play, going 6-2 at number three singles and 4-0 at number four singles, and an 8-4 mark teaming with Jarvis at number one doubles. McCormack enters her third year with the program with 21 career singles victories and 22 career doubles wins.
Gracie Jarest is the fourth returner for the Pride this season. She earned victories in both singles and doubles against Albertus Magnus last season, and then she went 3-1 at number three doubles during the spring paired with Donovan, with the loss coming against Division II school Saint Anselm in a tiebreaker.
Five newcomers join the Pride roster for the 2018-19 season, including sophomore Ginger Boodakian, a transfer from Mount Ida College. Freshmen Kaeleigh FitzPatrick, Lily Gastwirt, Katelyn Mogelnicki, and Lauren Mogelnicki round out the Regis squad.
In the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, Regis was picked to finish in fourth place, finishing with 39 points. Colby-Sawyer College, a newcomer to the GNAC after dominating the North Atlantic Conference with six straight league titles, collected four first-place votes to finish atop the poll with 57 points.
Defending GNAC champion Johnson & Wales earned one first-place vote and 56 points to finish second in the poll, just ahead of Simmons with 49 total points, including three first-place votes. Eastern Nazarene, another GNAC newcomer in tennis, ended up fifth in the poll with 32 points, with Suffolk right behind in sixth place with 31 points. Saint Joseph (Conn.) and Albertus Magnus finished seventh and eighth with 16 and eight points, respectively.
Regis will open the 2018 season at home against Lesley Saturday, Sept. 1, starting at 11 a.m., followed by the conference opener Saturday, Sept. 8, against Eastern Nazarene at 12 p.m. The Pride will close the fall regular season schedule with the top two predicted squads, traveling to Colby-Sawyer Saturday, Oct. 6, followed by a match at Johnson & Wales Saturday, Oct. 13.