TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo women's tennis team opens its 2023 spring season with a challenging pair of matches this Saturday and Sunday, as it takes the court against Army and Michigan State at Twos Athletic Club. The Black Knight invade Toledo on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. while the Spartans make the trip to the Glass City on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

"The team is really excited to start competing this weekend," said Head Coach Tracy Mauntler, who returns to the helm of the Rockets for her 20th season. "They've been incredibly focused and working hard since the season ended last spring. They are on a mission. We have some extremely experienced competitors that make up the bulk of the team. Sloane Teske, Cassie Alcala, Shalini Tallamraju, and Julia Kuszynski are incredible leaders as they 'talk the talk' and 'walk the walk'."

About the Rockets

The Rockets finished runner-up in the 2022 Mid-American Conference Women's Tennis Championships, falling to Ball State in their first-ever appearance in the conference title match. Toledo posted a program-best 18-7 overall record with a 7-3 mark in MAC play. Key returning players include MAC Player of the Year Cassie Alcala and Second-Team All-MAC honoree Sloane Teske.

Alcala, a junior, had a near perfect record in singles play, going 23-2 and 9-1 against conference opponents from the No.1 court. She opened the season on a nine-match win streak (Jan. 14 – Feb. 19) and ended the season with a six-match win streak (Apr. 9 – May 1), including both No.1 singles court wins in the conference tournament. Her only losses came against Kendall Kovick of West Virginia and Brindtha Ramasamy of Miami. Alcala was also received First-Team All-MAC honors after becoming just the second Rocket in program history to earn Player of the Year honors. In doubles competition, Alcala paired mostly with Teske. Together, the duo went a combined 16-9, with a 6-4 record in MAC play including the doubles win over Miami's duo in the MAC semifinals match.

Teske, a senior, held the ground as the No. 2 singles court, producing a 22-3 record with an 8-2 mark in MAC play. She opened the season on a 12-match win streak (Jan. 14 – Mar. 5) and ended with three-straight wins (Apr. 24 – May 5). Teske defeated 2021 MAC Player of the Year, Miami's Laura Rico three times during the season, April 7th, 15th and 30th. Teske earned a spot on the MAC All-Tournament team with junior Shalini Tallamraju following their performances in the championships. 

Junior Julia Kuszyns returns from the No. 3 singles court. She earned an overall singles record of 13-11 (6-4 MAC), and was 13-11 (7-3 MAC) in doubles competition paired mostly with Tallamraju. Kuszynski had a five-match singles win streak from Feb.27 – March 25.

Returning from the No. 4 singles court is junior Shalini Tallamraju. She produced an overall singles record of 18-6 with a 7-1 MAC record and a doubles record of 5-10 (0-1 MAC) paired mostly with Kuszynski. Tallamraju won eight singles matches in a row from Jan. 15 – Apr. 19.

Senior Laura Morera returns one last time to the court for the Rockets. She paired mostly with Particia Panta as the No.2 doubles team, and produced a 6-7 (2-4 MAC) record, winning four-straight matches from Feb. 4 – Mar. 20.

The three additions to the court this season are senior transfer Mariona Perez, and freshmen Lolita Gukasyan and Sanjana Tallamraju.

The Fall Season
In the fall portion of its 2022-23 season, Toledo recorded a 47-12 record in singles and doubles competition in three events. Tallamraju and Alcala made it to the Round of 32 at the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Oct. 20-25), the first for any Rocket.

About Army
Sophomore Cooper Jackson represented Army at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Super Regionals tournament on Oct. 21-24. Jackson entered the tournament as the No.6 seed and made it to the Round of 32, where she was defeated by Maxi Duncan from Harvard. The Black Knights finished the 2021-22 season with a 25-10 (5-2 PL) record. At the Patriot League conference tournament, Army swept Colgate and Navy, both 4-0, before defeating Boston University 4-1 for the title on April 24. Army was then defeated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 4-0 by Princeton.

Saturday's match will be the first ever matchup between the Black Knights and the Rockets.

About Michigan State
Michigan State ended the fall season with 26 victories through three days of its 2022 Green & White Dual on Nov. 4-6. Seniors Dagmar Zdrubecka Tia Mukherjee registered undefeated performances in both singles and doubles competition, combining for 10 victories. The Spartans ended the 2021-22 season with a 9-14 (1-10 Big Ten) record, and fell to Iowa in the first round of the conference tournament.

Sunday's match will be the 12th matchup in program history between the Rockets and Spartans, the last one taking place on Jan. 21, 2018. The Rockets went up to East Lansing, Mich. and left with a 4-0 defeat.

Follow the Rockets
Be sure to follow Rockets' men's tennis on social media:

• Twitter:  and @ToledoWTennis
• Instagram: 'toledowtennis'
• Facebook: 'Toledo Women's Tennis'