MOBILE, Ala – For the first time since the 2019 season, the Loyola Wolf Pack women's tennis team will be competing in the NAIA National Championship tournament, earning an at-large berth with the No. 15 seed. It's the second national tournament appearance for the Pack in program history, and the first for head coach Matt Llewellyn in his tenure.
The tournament begins on Tuesday, May 16, with Loyola set to play the No. 18 seed, Holy Cross (Ind.), at 9 a.m. at the Mobile Tennis Center. If the team were to advance, Loyola would then be matched up with No. 2 seed Georgia Gwinnett on Wednesday. [Full bracket]
The 2022-23 season thus far has been historic for the Wolf Pack, as the team compiled a 13-7 overall record in the spring, already the most wins in a season in Loyola tennis history, while reaching the final of the SSAC Championship tournament for the first time. Loyola also had one of the tougher schedules in the country, with seven matches against top-20 ranked NAIA opponents and two matches against NCAA D-I teams.
The Holy Cross Saints went 12-7 this season, defeating St. Francis (Ill.) to capture the Chicagoland Conference Championship for the first time. By comparison, the Saints schedule was not as difficult, with only two NAIA top 25 teams on the slate, including a 4-0 loss to No. 17 Indiana Wesleyan.
Three different Wolf Pack women's tennis players were selected to the SSAC All-conference Team for the second year in a row, as Lucy Carpenter made her third All-Conference appearance, and Adele Fereres and Micaela Ponce, the SSAC Co-Freshman of the Year, both made the team for the first time.
In doubles, Carpenter and Fatima Vasquez are 11-5 on the season at the No. 1 spot and have dominated opponents in recent weeks, only dropping two games total in three matches at the SSAC Championship. They'll be matched up with the Saints' top duo of Kia Carvalho-Landell and Helga Lopez in Mobile, a rematch of the opening-round battle at the ITA Cup in October, when Loyola's pair was barely edged out in a third-set super tiebreaker after each of the first two sets went to tiebreaks.
Carpenter, who played at the No. 1 singles position in every one of her matches, had the most singles wins on the team with a 12-6 record. Ponce (10-5) and Fereres (10-3) posted double-digit singles victories as well. Vasquez, Elly Carpenter, and Avery Frierson are also scheduled to be among the singles participants for the Pack at nationals. Frierson was Ponce's doubles partner at the conference tournament, with Ariana Salgueiro-Estela missing the tournament due to injury. Ponce and Salgueiro-Estela had the best doubles record of any Wolf Pack pair this season at 12-3.
Loyola will be looking to get its second program win at the NAIA National Championship. In the 2019 season, the Wolf Pack were the No. 12 seed, defeating No. 19 SCAD Atlanta before falling in the next round to No. 5 SCAD Savannah.
You can keep up with the Pack by following Wolf Pack Athletics on Facebook at Facebook.com/LoyolaWolfPack, Twitter and Instagram @LoyolaWolfPack, and by checking out our website at LoyolaWolfPack.com.
