Oberlin, Ohio – Coming off one of the best years in school history and a strong fall season, the Oberlin College women's tennis team is looking to extend its run of success when the spring portion of the 2012-13 season gets underway this weekend.

The Yeowomen graduated six seniors off of last year's team that finished second in the conference, totaling 19 wins and a year-end ranking of eighth in the ITA Central Region. The biggest departure is that of Ariel Lewis, who graduated as the school's most decorated player. She was a three-time NCAA Qualifier and two-time ITA All-American.

“Replacing Ariel and the five other quality players we lost is certainty a tall order, but the group that is here is still very talented. They put together a strong fall so I am optimistic about what we can achieve,” Head Coach Constantine Ananiadis said.

In the fall the Yeowomen played in two tournaments and two dual matches, one of which was a 4-3 win against the Division I foe Robert Morris University. For their efforts they earned another No. 8 ranking in the fall edition of the ITA Regional Rankings.

Oberlin certainly won't have an easy path to make a return trip to the NCAC Championship match, as the highly competitive conference will be even more challenging this season.

“We are a confident team and we feel that we will once again be towards the top of our very competitive conference competing for the title that eluded us last year,” Ananiadis said. “However, we are expecting the journey to be tougher this year as Denison, Allegheny and Kenyon all improved, while DePauw remains the team to beat.”

The Yeowomen will turn to senior Farah Leclercq and junior Brenna Sheldon to carry the load at the top of the lineup. “Certainly Farah and Brenna set themselves apart in the fall, but that was a long time ago now,” Ananiadis noted.  “However, I expect them to pickup right where they left off and continue to get better as the season progresses.”

Another player to watch is sophomore standout Grace Porter. As a rookie she racked up 15 wins in singles and Coach Ananiadis expects even more this year. “Grace made huge strides in both singles and doubles in terms of technique and both the tactical and mental approaches to her game. I really feel that this could be her year if she keeps her work ethic and focus.”

The Yeowmen are also blessed with the skills and leadership of senior Preeya Shah. Shah has been a mainstay in the OC lineup in each of the last three years and has earned a total of 47 singles wins and 41 doubles victories in her career. Last season she was simply dominate in the No. 5 position, finishing with a record of 16-2. Her experience will go a long way in mentoring first-years Ariana Abayomi, Erin Johnson and Alex Kahn along with sophomore Emily Fuller.

The Yeowomen start the season on Saturday with matches at Baldwin Wallace and Ursuline.