Goucher Hosts Waynesburg to get Fall Season Started

TOWSON, Md. — Ultimately, the outcome of one match was the difference between Goucher or fellow Landmark Conference opponent Juniata qualifying for the league's postseason tournament last spring.

The two schools faced off in the final matchup of the regular season, with the Eagles prevailing 5-4 and keeping the Gophers out of the playoffs after they had reached the championship match back in 2013.

Goucher will have to wait a few more months to try to avenge that defeat, but this year's squad will get its first chance to test itself in 2014-15 at 11 a.m. Saturday when the Gophers battle Waynesburg in their fall season home opener.

"We put ourselves in a position to qualify for the playoffs last year, and even though we came up short that was still a positive," head coach Sally Baum said. "With most of the team coming back, I expect that we'll be in a similar position this season."

There are certainly a lot of familiar faces on this year's roster. Goucher returns 10 players from 2013-14, including its top five singles players and its top two doubles teams (though one of those players, Kirsten Cianci (Bolton, Conn./Bolton), is studying abroad for the fall portion of the season).

Senior Amanda Bercovici (Hackensack, N.J./Bergen Tech), the defending Landmark Player of the Year, headlines the returners. Bercovici won 16 of her 19 dual matches from the No. 1 singles position, while she and Alex Walsh (Greens Farm, Conn./Staples) were 12-3 from the top doubles spot. Bercovici was ranked as high as 13th in the Atlantic South region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, and she will get her first opportunity to establish her ranking this year at the ITA Southeast Regional from Sept. 20-22. She reached the Round of 16 at last year's tournament before falling to Amanda Austi from Johns Hopkins.

"I think Amanda has an opportunity to go pretty far (at ITA's)," Baum said. "Last year, she ran into an All-American who ended up as the tournament's runner-up, so hopefully she gets a more favorable draw this time around. I think Alex will really benefit from ITA's as well, and it will be nice to see what she and Amanda can do in doubles."

Walsh will likely remain at the No. 2 singles position after moving up to that spot in her junior season. Kelsey Turner (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Friends) and Emily Ruff (Easton, Md./Easton), meanwhile, are expected to make up the middle of the singles lineup while partnering at No. 2 doubles.

Claire Donnelly (Frederick, Md./Frederick), Alice Goldstein-Plesser (Durham, N.C./Durham School of the Arts) and Leigh Oehrig (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg), who each saw playing time during their freshmen seasons, will look to establish themselves at the bottom of the lineup early on.

After Waynesburg, the Gophers will have three more dual matches in the fall to go along with ITA's and the annual Goucher Invitational on Sept. 27-28. The season concludes with a home match against York on Oct. 11.

"The fall matches are all about seeing how we stack up as a team," Baum said. "With so many returners, I don't think there will be any big surprises. They've all gotten better, but the question is how much better compared with the improvements made by our competition. These first few matches will be the first chance to start answering that question."