Mount Olive College Tennis Preview

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on January 25, 2007 2:13 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive has been picked third in the 2007 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Preseason Women's Tennis Poll, as voted on by the CVAC coaches. Carol Aro and Lauren Harris were selected among CVAC Preseason "Players to Watch."

Aro, a sophomore from Sao Paulo, Brazil, played No. 1 doubles last season and is expected to move into the No. 1 singles flight this year. Aro posted an overall singles record of 10-7 last year and was 5-3 in conference play. This fall, she posted a win over a Division I opponent on her way to a runner-up finish in the consolation bracket at the UNC-Wilmington Landfall Invitational.

Harris, a senior from Chesapeake, Va., was 5-3 in singles and 6-2 in doubles in conference play. Over the last two years, Mount Olive has posted four 5-4 wins in five matches when Harris plays the deciding singles match. Harris earned CVAC Player of the Week honors during her sophomore year.

Mount Olive received 75 points in the poll, finished 16 points behind second-place Limestone and eight points ahead of Pfeiffer and Queens, which tied for fourth place. Defending champion Erskine took the top spot in the poll with 10 first-place votes and 100 points. Limestone received the remaining two first-place votes.

Mount Olive is coming off its best-ever regular season CVAC finish, posting an 8-2 conference record and finishing third in the CVAC standings. The Trojans were 14-10 overall and placed fifth in the CVAC Tournament, overcoming a first round loss to win back-to-back matches in the consolation bracket.

The Trojans will be without four-time All-CVAC selections Lucia Henkle and Mariana Shimoda, both of whom graduated. Henkle, a four-time first team honoree and the 2005 CVAC Player of the Year, and Shimoda, a four-time second team selection, became the first teammates in any sport in Mount Olive athletics history to earn all-conference honors in four consecutive years.

Mount Olive opens its season Feb. 6 at Barton in a match that will not count toward the conference standings. The Trojans' conference opener and home opener take place Feb. 17 against Lees-McRae.

Men's team

picked fourth

MOUNT OLIVE -- Mount Olive, ranked No. 38 in the ITA Division II Preseason National Poll, was picked fourth in the 2007 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Preseason Men's Tennis Poll, as voted on by the CVAC coaches. Two-time All-CVAC selection Guillherme Serra was selected among CVAC Preseason "Players to Watch."

Serra, a junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, earned All-CVAC honorable mention in both his freshman and sophomore years. Serra has a 19-1 career singles record in regular season conference play, including a perfect 10-0 mark as a freshman.

Mount Olive posted an overall record of 14-14 last year and finished third in the CVAC standings with an 8-2 mark. The Trojans also finished third at last year's CVAC Tournament. All of the Trojans' losses last year came against Division I or nationally-ranked Division II opponents.

Mount Olive received 57 points in the poll, finishing eight points behind third-place Limestone and outdistancing fifth-place Pfeiffer by 16 points. Anderson finished first in the poll with seven first-place votes and 78 points, followed by Barton with the remaining three first-place votes and 73 points.

The Trojans open their 2007 campaign with a pair of matches at Myrtle Beach, S.C., taking on Methodist and Division I Coastal Carolina. Mount Olive's conference opener and home opener take place Feb. 17 as the Trojans play host to Lees-McRae.