Season Preview: Women’s Tennis aiming high in 2023-24 with much the same roster from 16-5 campaign in 2022-23

By Wes Mayberry 

| 2023-24 Women's Tennis Schedule | 2023-24 Women's Tennis Roster |

ADA — Sean Swisher led the Ohio Northern women's tennis team to a 16-5 record in 2022-23 and enters his second season with largely the same roster as the Polar Bears seek an Ohio Athletic Conference championship.

Northern notched its 13th straight winning season last year, which included a nine-match win streak and a runner-up finish in the OAC Tournament. The top singles players from that squad, who comprised six of the team's seven All-OAC honorees, return for 2023-24.

Sophomores Jenna Bell (Latrobe, Pa.), Abby Cruser (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) and Jamie Hurst (Granger, Ind./Penn) are back after earning First Team All-OAC honors as freshmen.

Bell finished the 2022-23 season with an overall record of 30-16, including 18-4 in singles play and 12-12 in doubles. She led ONU in overall wins and singles victories and played primarily at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles.

Cruser played primarily at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in 2022-23 and finished 22-21 overall, including 10-12 in singles and 12-9 in doubles. She ranked third on the team in overall victories.

Hurst was 28-15 overall last season, including 12-8 in singles and 16-7 in doubles. She tied for the team lead in doubles victories and was second in overall wins after playing primarily at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles.

Fifth-year senior Regan Landis (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) returns as a three-time All-OAC Second Team honoree. She ranked second on the team in singles wins last season with a 17-5 record and was 3-3 in doubles for an overall mark of 20-8 playing primarily at No. 4 singles and exclusive at No. 3 doubles. She enters 2023-24 just three wins shy of 100 career victories, as she boasts an overall mark of 97-32, including 55-19 in singles and 42-13 in doubles.

Juniors Katie O'Connell (Novi, Mich./Saint Catherine) and Julianne Sheldon (Ashtabula/Saint John) earned All-OAC Honorable Mention status a year ago, giving the former two such accolades in her career.

O'Connell closed 2022-23 at 20-7 overall, including 16-5 in singles and 4-2 in doubles. She played primarily at No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles and ranked third on the team in singles victories. She is 52-11 overall, including 39-9 in singles and 13-2 in doubles, in two seasons at ONU.

Sheldon was 19-10 overall, including 3-4 in singles and 16-6 in doubles, in 2022-23. She tied Hurst for the team lead in doubles victories and played primarily at No. 6 singles and No. 2 doubles. In two seasons at ONU, she is 38-16 overall, including 14-9 in singles and 24-7 in doubles.

Juniors Marisa Petrunich (Brownsburg, Ind.), Victoria Santana (Humacao, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Antonio Abad) and Miranda Wills (Ada) round out the returnees for 2023-24. They are joined by freshmen Taylor Allen (Zionsville, Ind.) and Molly McLane (Westerville/Big Walnut).

The Polar Bears open the fall portion of their 2023-24 schedule with matches against Adrian (Mich.) and host Ohio Wesleyan on Sept. 2. Their lone home matches of the fall are against Indiana-East on Sept. 8 and St. Mary's (Ind.) on Sept. 9.

Northern will then compete in the Hope (Mich.) Invitational on Sept. 15-16 followed by the ITA Central Regionals in St. Louis, Mo., on Sept. 22-24 before closing out the fall at Cedarville on Sept. 26.