Simmons Tennis is preparing to open the 2008 season riding on the momentum of last season's successes. The Sharks finished the year ranked 25th in the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Northeast fall rankings, a program best. In addition, the Simmons Tennis program was selected as a 2008 All-Academic Team, another program first.

The Sharks made their fourth consecutive GNAC final in 2007, and along the way earned wins against NEWMAC foes Clark and Mount Holyoke. Head Coach Bob Rauseo intends to aim for similar success in the fall. "Making the playoffs again would be a reasonable goal for this season," said Rauseo. "We aim to continue our recent success and be among the Northeast's ranked teams at the end of the season."

Among the individual players who carried the team through 2007, a few made a permanent mark on the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. Graduated senior Captain Alex Yudelevich (Houston, TX) was named GNAC Conference Player of the Year. Returning sophomore Malie Macleod (Carlsbad, CA) was named GNAC co-Rookie of the Year. Yudelevich, who played the number one position for all four years of her Simmons career, will return to the Sharks in 2008 as an Assistant Coach.

Simmons Tennis graduated five seniors after the 2007 season, including Yudelevich. "Our schedule will be one of the toughest around," said Rauseo. "We'll have to stay healthy in order to have the success of the past teams. If we can do that, we should be very competitive."

The Sharks will return to the court for their first match of 2008 on Saturday, August 30, at 1pm at Wheaton.