BEREA, OHIO – The 2013-2014 Baldwin Wallace University women's tennis team will look to return to the top of the Ohio Athletic Conference standings, win another OAC title and return to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.  Four of the past seven years, the BW women have won the OAC title and advanced to the NCAA Division III national tourney.

"We have a history of success both in the classroom and on the tennis court at Baldwin Wallace University," said veteran Head Coach Jack Bethlenfalvy, who is entering his 29th season with a 345-233 career record and a .598 winning percentage, making him the winningest women's tennis coach at BW, in the OAC and in Ohio collegiate history. "Our goals every season are to have fun, be competitive, win an OAC title and compete in the NCAA Division III Tournament.

"This season, we return a strong nucleus of six student-athletes who lettered last season, love to play the game of tennis, have a lot of fun and enjoy being teammates," continued Bethlenfalvy.  "We will need each young lady to improve a great deal from a year ago, and we will need our newcomers to push the upperclass players for their spots in the starting lineup.

"We return five starters, including sophomore No. 2 singles player Kelsey Blatt (Tallmadge), senior No. 3 player Morgan Baker (Vermilion/Elyria Catholic), sophomore No.4 player Mackenzie Donalson (Hilliard/ Davidson), sophomore No.6 player Mackenzi Baker (Vermilion/ Elyria Catholic) and senior No.3 doubles player Whitney Yoder (Medina/ Senior)," said Bethlenfalvy. "They will be our leaders."

In addition to his five starters returning, Bethlenfalvy will look to senior Liz Keller (Cincinnati/ Walnut Hills) and freshmen Alexandria Eging (Parma/ Normandy), Hayley Peterson (Tulsa, Okla.) and Claire Watts (Medina/ Senior) to push his upperclass players for playing time and a spot in the starting lineup.

A year ago, the Yellow Jackets finished 11-10 overall and 6-3 in the OAC.  

In singles play, Blatt returns after posting a 14-11 mark at No.2 and earning second-team All-OAC honors. She will be the odds-on favorite to move up to No.1 singles this season.  Morgan Baker was 8-17 overall and 4-4 versus OAC foes at No.3, Donalson was 11-15 overall and 5-3 in the OAC at No.4, Mackenzi Baker was 7-13 overall and 4-2 in the OAC, Yoder was 5-2 in singles and 1-0 in the OAC, and Keller was 1-6 overall and 0-1 against OAC competition. 

In doubles play, two of the three teams return intact and five of the six starters are back.  The Baker sisters combined for a 10-15 slate at No.2 with a 5-3 mark versus the OAC and Donalson and Yoder were 12-11 overall at No.3 with a 5-3 mark versus OAC foes.  Blatt is back at No.1 where she combined last season with All-OAC and Academic All-OAC standout and graduate Rebecca Mittler '13 for an 8-0 mark versus the OAC.

This fall, Bethlenfalvy will play a very tough schedule, but that also is his tradition.  The Yellow Jackets open the fall season on Saturday, September 7 at the Nancy J. Health Invitational at Allegheny (Pa.) College. BW also will play at the 3-day Oberlin College Invitational from Sept. 13-15 and compete at the annual ITA (Intercollegiate Tennis Association) Central Region Tournament at Depauw (Ind.) University from Sept. 20-22.

The tough pre-OAC schedule continues this winter and spring when BW plays at bothb Oberlin and at Kalamazoo (Mich.) College before it heads on its annual Spring Break Trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina in early March. BW then opens its OAC season on March 22 at Capital University and plays its first home match on March 29 versus Marietta College at the "Pop" Collins Tennis Courts in Berea.

"By the time we get to the OAC Tournament, our ladies understand what it takes to win big matches, especially at the OAC Tournament," said Bethlenfalvy. "The tough fall, winter and early spring schedule makes them better. When you add hard work to a tough schedule and some luck, you can have quite a bit of success and a lot of fun." 

FOR MORE BW Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.