FREDONIA, N.Y. – As the Fredonia State women's tennis team prepares to start its season, finally, it does so with five returning starters.

Head coach Joe Calarco, now in his 13th season, has had to deal with two early season postponements while prepping his team for its season, which is now scheduled to begin Wednesday at Penn State Behrend.

The Blue Devils are scheduled to open the home portion of their season Saturday afternoon vs. Brockport.

“We're anxious to get going,”Calarco said before his team headed out to practice Tuesday on the Steele Hall courts.

In preparation for the season, the Blue Devils held a intrasquad round-robin tournament. Calarco used the results to help seed his team for singles competition, and came up with an order which affirmed what he learned last year. As a result, junior Alison Phillips is back as the No. 1 seed.

“Ali's strengths,” Calarco said, “is her all-around tennis knowledge, plus she plays with a lot of heart. She has tennis sense but it's more than that. She's a very good role model for the rest of the team.”

She will be followed by junior Jess Johnston at No. 2, sophomore Sara DiFulvio at No. 3, junior Molly Zanetti at No. 4, and sophomore Stephanie Thompson at No. 5. The other returning potential starter is Lesley Cerniglia, plus two newcomers – junior Miller Barmasse and freshman Julie Coleman.

“Cerniglia is the only senior among the starters, so it's a young squad,” Calarco said. “Yet the nucleus of the team is Ali, Jess, Sara, and Molly. They're the ones who'll carry the team.”

Phillips and Zanetti are the co-captains.