Feb. 15, 2008

Garden City, NY - Under direction of first year Head Coach, Ed Canner, the Adelphi Women's Tennis team aced its way through one of the most successful seasons in the program's history. When the dust finally settled, the Brown and Gold finished the season 5-2 in the East Coast Conference (ECC), and 5-6 overall. This marks the Panthers best finish since the 2002 season, when they finished second in the conference and picked up a ranking of sixth in the Northeast Region.

Highlighting the year was freshman Alda Ribeiro, who earned ECC Rookie of the Year honors. Ribeiro took second place in the 2007 ECC Singles Flight Championship and finished the season 6-1 in the ECC, with a 7-1 overall record. "I'm very happy with the way Alda performed this year on the court. She is a smart tennis player, and shows promising things for the future of this program," said Canner. This marks the best finish in Adelphi Women's Tennis since 2005 when Claudia Nunez finished second to Queens College's Dominika Bajuk.

Ribeiro faced tough competition throughout the tournament at the number one singles spot, but was not tested until the final match-up against Somadi Druker of Concordia. Druker, who went on to beat Ribeiro, was named ECC Women's Tennis Player of the Year, voted by the ECC coaches. For her efforts in the tournament, and throughout the season, Ribeiro earned ECC first-team all-conference kudos, joining five others in the conference with this honor.

Senior captain Amanda Aniboli also had a strong year, finishing 6-2 in singles competition and 9-7 overall. Graduate Student Daniella Sanderson along with freshman doubles partner, Jamie Sussman compiled a 3-1 record adding strength to the Panthers' line up. Doubles specialist Megan Margino also had a stand out year, finishing with an Adelphi best overall doubles record of 7-4.

Canner is optimistic about Adelphi's tennis outlook. "I like the way this program is heading. We have a strong, young team, which will only improve in the future. We made a great run at the ECC's this year and will look to further that success next season."

The excitment continues when the Panthers enter their spring tennis exhibition schedule begining March 30 against East Stroudsburg at Hempstead Lake State Park.