Merker & Hesselbirg of Women's Tennis Earn '14 All-Skyline Honors
New York, N.Y. – St. Joseph's sophomore Erika Hesselbirg and freshman Shannon Merker have been named to the 2014 Skyline All-Conference Team. Hesselbirg compiled a 9-2 overall record and was 7-1 at fifth singles. Merker plays first singles for SJC and posted a 6-5 record.
Senior Jessica Sickles of Farmingdale State has been named the 2014 Skyline Women's Tennis Player of the Year in voting conducted among the Conference's seven head coaches.
The Skyline coaches also selected Shani Hava of Yeshiva as Rookie of the Year and Naomi Kaszovitz of Yeshiva as Coach of the Year.
A three-time Player of the Week selection this season, Sickles owns a 9-2 record at the No. 1 singles position and did not lose a game in four of her nine victories. The Massapequa Park, N.Y., native enters the Rams' Oct. 25 contest versus St. Joseph's-L.I. in the finals of the 2014 Skyline Championship with a 37-16 career record at first singles. Sickles is a four-time All-Conference first-team honoree and also garnered Skyline Player of the Year distinction in 2011.
Hava boasts a 6-2 record at the No. 1 singles flight, including a 4-1 mark versus Skyline opponents. A first-team All-Conference selection and three-time Rookie of the Week honoree, Hava also plays at the No. 1 doubles position for the Maccabees and owns a 6-3 record.
Sickles and Hava are joined on the 2014 All-Conference first-team by Farmingdale State's Alex Bentz and Priscilla Signore; Kirsten Ackerman of Sage; and Erika Hesselbirg and Shannon Merker of St. Joseph's-L.I. Ackerman is a three-time first-team selection and boasts a 78-16 ledger in her three seasons at Sage.
The second-team All-Conference includes Erin Duffy and Katie Schultz of Sage; Yeshiva's Jannah Eichenbaum; Breanna Scott of Mount Saint Mary; Farmingdale State's Michelle Fredericks; and Autumn Atkinson of Sarah Lawrence.
Now in her sixth season, Kaszovitz has guided Yeshiva to a 7-4 overall record in 2014 and the program's first appearance in the Skyline Championship since 2004. YU posted a 4-2 mark in league action and earned non-conference victories over FDU-Florham, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn and Western Connecticut State in 2014. Kaszovitz is a 1987 graduate of Yeshiva's Stern College and earned her JD at the Cardozo School of Law in 1990.
2014 SKYLINE WOMEN'S TENNIS ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
First-Team
Jessica Sickles*, Farmingdale State - Sr., Massapequa Park, N.Y.
Kirsten Ackerman, Sage - Sr., Guilderland, N.Y.
Alex Bentz, Farmingdale State - Sr., Massapequa Park, N.Y.
Shani Hava, Yeshiva - Fr., Petach Tikva, Israel
Erika Hesselbirg, St. Joseph's-L.I. - So., Shirley, N.Y.
Shannon Merker, St. Joseph's-L.I. - Fr., Flanders, N.Y.
Priscilla Signore, Farmingdale State - So., Staten Island, N.Y.
Second-Team
Autumn Atkinson, Sarah Lawrence - Jr., Manasquan, N.J.
Erin Duffy, Sage - So., Castleton, N.Y.
Jannah Eichenbaum, Yeshiva - Jr., Oceanside, N.Y.
Michelle Fredericks, Farmingdale State - So., Farmingdale, N.Y.
Katie Schultz, Sage - Sr., Wyantskill, N.Y.
Breanna Scott, Mount Saint Mary - Jr., Highland Falls, N.Y.
*Player of the Year: Jessica Sickles, Farmingdale State
Rookie of the Year: Shani Hava, Yeshiva
Coach of the Year: Naomi Kaszovitz, Yeshiva
