Season Review: Youth delivers success for Women’s Tennis in 2022-23

By Wes Mayberry 

ADA — With a roster dominated by freshmen and sophomores, the Ohio Northern women's tennis team kept up its winning ways in 2022-23, finishing 16-5 overall for its 13th straight winning season.

Under first-year head coach Sean Swisher, the Polar Bears went a perfect 5-0 during their spring break trip in Florida as part of a midseason nine-match win streak that included a 3-0 start in Ohio Athletic Conference play. Northern finished second in the OAC with a 6-1 record and was the conference tournament runner-up to Otterbein. The Polar Bears have now advanced to the OAC Tournament finals in five of the past six tournaments.

"The team improved in several areas and showed up ready to work every day, and the season was a big success," Swisher said. "It took a really solid opponent to beat us. I was really impressed with how hard everyone on the team worked all year."

A trio of freshmen led the way for ONU this season, as Jenna Bell (Latrobe, Pa.), Jamie Hurst (Granger, Ind./Penn) and Abby Cruser (Pendleton, Ind./Pendleton Heights) were each named to the All-OAC First Team.

Bell was a two-time OAC Player of the Week selection in 2023. She finished the year 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 on the season and played primarily at No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles.

"Jenna had a great season and anchored the No. 3 singles spot for us and played No. 1 doubles with Abby, and they had a really good connection with one another," Swisher said. "Jenna came from a winning program in high school, and you could really tell it. She stepped on the court ready to win every match she played. I'm super impressed with her work ethic and who she is on and off the court."

Hurst also earned OAC Player of the Week accolades on two occasions in 2023. She was 28-15 overall, 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.

"Jamie has been playing tennis a long time and is just a tennis person," Swisher said. "She played all the USTA tournaments growing up and really worked hard at the game and is a steadfast tennis player. She loves to compete, and she did a great job for us and had a great season."

Cruser played primarily at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles in 2023 and finished 22-21 overall, including 10-12 in singles and 12-9 in doubles. She ranked third on the team in overall victories.

"Abby just can't get enough of tennis. She played during our winter break, and she was playing in USTA tournaments the week after our season ended. She really, really loves the game, and it shows," Swisher said. "Abby has worked extremely hard and greatly improved from the fall to the spring. She is very coachable and a great person."

Senior Regan Landis (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) earned her third straight OAC Second Team accolade this season after finishing second on the team in singles victories. She closed the year with an overall record of 20-8, including 17-5 in singles and 3-3 in doubles. She played primarily at No. 4 singles and exclusively at No. 3 doubles. Her season was highlighted by her match-clinching singles victory at No. 3 singles against Macalester (Minn.) in Florida. After fighting off six match points by her opponent, Landis won 13-11 in a third-set tiebreaker after 3.5 hours to hand the Polar Bears the 5-4 victory to complete the undefeated spring break schedule.

Landis is 97-32 overall, including 55-19 in singles and 42-13 in doubles, in four seasons at ONU.

"Regan did a great job of leading by example. She's a quiet person on the court but always goes out there and battles and gives it her all," Swisher said. "She does things the right way and is a great representative of ONU."

Junior Olivia Kesner (Lima/Central Catholic) and sophomores Katie O'Connell (Novi, Mich./Saint Catherine) and Julianne Sheldon (Ashtabula/Saint John) rounded out Northern's All-OAC selections this season as Honorable Mention picks.

Kesner played primarily at No. 5 singles and Nos. 1 and 3 doubles and closed the year at 15-13 overall, including 11-6 in singles and 4-7 in doubles. Now a three-time All-OAC selection after earning First Team honors as a freshman and sophomore, Kesner is 46-54 overall in her three-year career, including 25-27 in singles and 21-27 in doubles.

"Olivia is someone you're glad to have on your team in terms of how she carries herself. She led by example and did a really good job for us in both singles and doubles," Swisher said. "In addition to playing tennis at a high level, she graduated in three years and worked a part-time job, which says a lot about her work ethic. I couldn't be prouder to have coached her. She's a great ambassador for ONU tennis."

O'Connell earned OAC Player of the Week honors once in 2023 and finished 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. Now a two-time All-OAC selection after earning Honorable Mention status last season, O'Connell is 52-11 overall, including 39-9 in singles and 13-2 in doubles, in two seasons at ONU.

"Katie came to ONU with a good tennis background and always works extremely hard," Swisher said. "I see a bright future ahead for her, and she's going to be in the mix for both singles and doubles next year."

Sheldon closed 2023 at 19-10 overall, including 3-4 in singles and 16-6 in doubles. 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, Sheldon is 38-16 overall, including 14-9 in singles and 24-7 in doubles.

"Julianne was a vocal person the court and always brought a lot of energy, and I was impressed with how much she improved throughout the year," Swisher said. "She puts in the work and the effort, and it really shows. She had a nice season for us and is a really gifted doubles player."

ONU's seven All-OAC honorees were joined on the roster by senior Flo Sanchez (West Chester/Lakota West) and sophomores Marisa Petrunich (Brownsburg, Ind.), Victoria Santana (Humacao, Puerto Rico/Colegio San Antonio Abad), Cassie Stuber (Lima/Central Catholic) and Miranda Wills (Ada) in posting a combined 101-47 record in singles play and 47-29 mark in doubles for an overall winning percentage of .661 on the season.

The Polar Bears also succeeded off the court, earning three College Sports Communicators Academic All-District accolades and five Academic All-OAC honors.

Landis, Kesner and O'Connell were CSC Academic All-District honorees and joined Petrunich and Wills as Academic All-OAC selections.

Ohio Northern was selected as an ITA All-Academic Team, and Landis, Sanchez, Kesner, Petrunich, Bell and Hurst earned ITA Scholar Athlete honors.

Looking ahead, Swisher hopes the promise his young team displayed this season carries over into 2023-24.

"We have several players coming back, and we hope to get Miranda Wills, who is arguably our best doubles player, back from injury," Swisher said. "The future is very bright for this team."