XAVIER UNIVERSITY MUSKETEERS (20-5) 2016 BIG EAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS

NCAA WOMEN’S TENNIS FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDSFRIDAY-SATURDAY, MAY 13-14, 2016

VARSITY TENNIS CENTER • ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN

THE X FACTORS FOR @XAVIERWTEN ENTERING THE 2016 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS • Xavier enters the NCAA Tournament with a 20-5 record after capturing the BIG EAST Championship. Kentucky is 17-9 on the year and fell to LSU in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

• The winner of the No. 3 Xavier/No. 2 Kentucky matchup on Friday will face the winner of the No. 1 Michigan/No. 4 Ball State match at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 14 for a spot in the final 16.

• The BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Championship is the first BIG EAST title by a Xavier women’s sports team since joining the BIG EAST in 2013.

• Xavier junior Sydney Liggins, playing No. 1 singles and doubles, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2016 BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Championship. This week she added the honor of 2016 BIG EAST Conference Player of the Year.

• Xavier juniors Sydney Liggins and Cristina Di Lorenzo were named to the 2016 All-BIG EAST Team along with sophomore teammate Amina Ismail.

• Xavier second-year head coach Doug Matthews, who has led Xavier to first-ever trip to the NCAA Championships for women’s tennis, led Xavier as a player to the first-ever men’s tennis team appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2009. Matthews and his staff earned 2016 BIG EAST Conference Coaching Staff of the Year.

• Xavier women’s tennis was among five XU teams recognized by the NCAA for posting Academic Progress Rate’s (APR) in the top-10 percent of their sport during the latest rankings, receiving the recognition after earning a perfect 1000 score for 2014-15. In fact, this marked the 11th consecutive year that women’s tennis has earned a perfect score, which is every year since the NCAA started the Public Recognition Awards program in 2004-05.

Xavier Singles Lineup: Xavier Doubles Lineup:

#1 Sydney Liggins, junior #1 Sydney Liggins, junior

#2 Cristina Di Lorenzo, junior Amina Ismail, sophomore

#3 Amina Ismail, sophomore #2 Cristina Di Lorenzo, junior

#4 Alex Brinker, senior Alex Brinker, senior

#5 Sophia Abelson, freshman #3 Sophia Abelson, freshman

#6 Lauren Ghidotti, sophomore Lauren Ghidotti, sophomore

GOXAVIER.COM XU Contact: Tom Eiser, Assoc. Athletic Director/Comm. eiser@xavier.edu, 513-382-5565 (cell) & @EiserXUSports @XAVIERWTEN

SYDNEY LIGGINSJunior

Caledonia, Mich.Grand Rapids Catholic C.

CRISTINA DI LORENZOJunior

New Albany, OhioNew Albany

SYDNEY LIGGINS#1 SINGLES / #1 DOUBLES

2016 BIG EAST Conference Player of the Year ... 2016 BIG EAST Championship Most Outstand-ing Player ... Compiled a 19-4 record this Spring at No. 1 singles … Holds the team’s highest win percentage at .826 … Went undefeated at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament … Has notable wins this Spring over Indiana’s Madison Appel, Louisville’s Sena Suswan, and Michigan State’s Lexi Baylis ... BIG EAST Player of the Week three times: March 16 and 23 and April 6.

CRISTINA DI LORENZO#2 SINGLES / # 2 DOUBLES

2016 BIG EAST All-Conference Team ... Played mainly at the No. 2 singles position, compiling a 16-6 record ... Two-time selection to the BIG EAST Conference All-Academic Team ... 23-5 as a sophomore and 25-6 as a freshman ... As a sophomore, completed the spring season with a 15-match win streak ... Before Xavier, fin-ished her high school career going undefeated in 2013 ...Won a Division I Doubles State Cham-pionship with her sister, Francesca.

AMINA ISMAILSophomore

Maineville, OhioKings

ALEX BRINKERSenior

Granger, Ind.Penn

AMINA ISMAIL#3 SINGLES / #1 DOUBLES

2016 BIG EAST All-Conference Team ... Record-ed a 18-6 record in singles and a 15-6 record in doubles with partner Sydney Liggins… Went un-defeated in 2016 BIG EAST Tournament action ... Posted a 23-7 singles record as a freshman, mainly at #3 and a 19-7 mark in doubles, main-ly at #1 ... Two of her siblings played collegiate tennis , including her brother Ra’ees (Xavier ‘09), who ranks second in the record book for career singles matches won (90).

ALEX BRINKER#4 SINGLES / #2 DOUBLES

Compiled a record of 13-9 in singles and 13-11 in doubles with partner Cristina Di Lorenzo this Spring ... Two-time selection to the BIG EAST Conference All-Academic Team ... 2014 All-BIG EAST Conference ... Won BIG EAST Women’s Tennis Player of the Week April 21, 2015 after helping the Musketeers defeat both Creighton and Butler ... 2013 Atlantic 10 Conference Most Outstanding Rookie Performer ... Won a singles Indiana High School State Championship in 2012.

SOPHIA ABELSONFreshman

West Bloomfield, Mich.Laurel Springs

LAUREN GHIDOTTISophomoreDublin, Ohio

Bishop Watterson

SOPHIA ABELSON#5 SINGLES / #3 DOUBLES

Won 15 matches at the No. 5 and 6 singles posi-tions this Spring … Paired with doubles partner Lauren Ghidotti to compile a record of 15-8 ... Prior to arriving at Xavier, was a three-time na-tional doubles champion… National Regional singles champion … 2014 Hoxie Memorial Award recipient for Southeastern Michigan... A three-time Michigan State Champion in golf.

LAUREN GHIDOTTI#6 SINGLES / #3 DOUBLES

In spring action, went 16-5 in singles at 15-8 in doubles … Won the championship-clinching clinching match vs. DePaul in the 2016 BIG EAST Tournament final ... Compiled a 25-6 singles mark as a freshman, including 6-2 at #4 and 11-2 at #5; finished 16-9 in double play in her rookie season, incluidng 11-0 at #2 ... Prior to Xavier, was Ohio High School Athletic Asso-ciation (OHSAA) singles state tournament run-ner up (2013) and was OHSAA doubles state tournament runner up (2011).

ZOE MANIONFreshman

Lincolnshire, Ill.Stevenson

MEGAN MORRISSenior

Lake Forest, Ill.Lake Forest

ZOE MANIONHas seen limited action in the Spring ... Com-piled a 26-5 record in her senior season at Stevenson High School… Led her team in her senior season to a second place finish in the IHSA State Tournament … Names to 2014 ISHA All-State Team… 2014 North Shore Conference Champion.

MEGAN MORRISTwo-time selection to the BIG EAST Confer-ence All-Academic Team ... Has seen limited action this Spring but won 15 matches in her first three seasons as a Musketeer ... Prior to Xavier, she helped Lake Forest win the team state championship in 2010, four-straight team sectional titles and three conference champi-onships.

ABIGAIL ROEBKERSophomore

Ft. Mitchell, Ky.Notre Dame Academy

DOUG MATTHEWSHead Coach

2nd YearXavier ‘09

ABIGAIL ROEBKERWon three straight matches to win flight at Greater Cincinnati Invitational … Defeated West Virginia State University’s Kay-la McKnight, 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (13), Valparaiso’s Morgan Paras, 6-0, 6-4, and Northern Ken-tucky’s Sierra Nellessen, 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-3) ... BIG EAST Conference All-Academic Team as a freshman ... Has three older siblings, Sarah, Emily and Jimmy who all played tennis in col-lege, including former All-Conference standout Jimmy Roebker (Xavier ‘14).

HEAD COACH DOUG MATTHEWS2016 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year hon-ors ... Second year as the men’s and women’s head coach after four years as an XU assistant ... As a player, led XU to back-to-back Atlantic 10 championships and the first-ever men’s ten-nis team appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and 2009 ... While at XU he compiled a 75-47 career singles record, which ranks fourth all-time at Xavier ... In doubles, he ranks third all-time at 75-52 ... Four-time All-Atlantic 10 se-lection ... Atlantic 10’s Most Outstanding Per-former in 2008 and 2009.

2016NCAA

TENNIS

2016 Xavier University Women’s Tennis Postseason Roster

Name Class Hometown/High School Sophia Abelson Fr. West Bloomfield, Mich./Laurel Springs Alex Brinker Sr. Granger, Ind./Penn Cristina Di Lorenzo Jr. New Albany, Ohio/New Albany Lauren Ghidotti So. Dublin, Ohio/Bishop Watterson Amina Ismail So. Maineville, Ohio/Kings Sydney Liggins Jr. Caledonia, Mich./Grand Rapids Catholic Central Zoe Manion Fr. Lincolnshire, Ill./Stevenson Megan Morris Sr. Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest Abigail Roebker So. Ft. Mitchell, Ky./Notre Dame Academy

Coaching Staff Doug Matthews Head Coach Xavier ‘09 John Allare Assistant Coach Michigan State ‘09 Ryan Rasco Assistant Coach St. Phillips ‘08

Pronunciation Guide Ismail Ish-mail Ghidotti gih-Dot-ee Abelson Abel- son Roebker Robe-kehr Allare Ah - lah - rey Zoe Zow-ee

2016NCAA

TENNIS

SophiaAbelson 15-7AlexBrinker 13-9CristinaDiLorenzo 16-6LaurenGhidotti 16-5AminaIsmail 18-6SydneyLiggins 19-4ZoeManionMeganMorrisAbigailRoebker

Ismail/Liggins 15-6Brinker/DiLorenzo 13-11Ghidotti/Abelson 15-8

SpringSeasonRecord

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