Christina Tan was the first freshman captain in Syracuse athletics history. Simone Kalhorn once played a match against Georgetown with a broken nose. And Jacquelynn Tang has earned the respect of her peers to the extent that she is treated like a captain, even though she is not officially listed as one.

The trio of seniors has had defining moments throughout each of their respective careers at SU. However, their greatest accomplishment cannot be found in a box score or game recap. SU tennis head coach Luke Jensen said the senior class has laid the foundation for Syracuse tennis for years to come.

‘When we look back with this coaching staff, it was our most important class,’ Jensen said. ‘It may not have the most wins or the most professional players come out of it. It’s the most important class because they had to change the tone and change the culture.’

Kalhorn, Tan and Tang have been through it all. From annual five-mile runs to all those three-set matches, the three have experienced the good, the bad and everything in between.

With Senior Day coming up on Friday as the Orange preps for a match with Connecticut at 10 a.m., the seniors will compete in their last match at Drumlins Tennis Center. It’s a home away from home in which they’ve won 33 of their 35 career team matches. Junior Alessondra Parra expects an emotional moment when the three seniors are recognized.

‘It’s going to be a really special day for us because we’re going to honor our seniors that have led us through up until this point,’ Parra said.

Just one year younger than the trio, Parra believes they won’t be forgotten. She believes having them as leaders while she was an underclassman made the difference in her development as a player.

‘There’s no doubt that they’ve left their mark here,’ Parra said. ‘They were the first ones that had to interpret what this program was all about. Coming in a year later, I was probably at an advantage because they laid down the track for where we are right now.

‘Even after they’re gone, this program is building on what they established the first year they got here. Since they’ve laid the foundation, it is just going to continue.’

As the current seniors have aged, they have seen stronger, faster and better freshmen each season. Parra and fellow junior Emily Harman were followed by CC Sardinha last year. Current first-years include Maddie Kobelt, Aleah Marrow and Eva Raszkiewicz.

The top spots in the lineup this season have generally been occupied by the likes of Parra, Harman and Kobelt. But the top spots in the locker room are still filled by the seniors. Marrow appreciates the leadership Kalhorn, Tan and Tang have provided for her and this program as a whole.

Tan has been a consistent middle-of-the-order player for Syracuse in her senior season. Kalhorn has manned the No. 5 and 6 spots for most of the year. Tang hasn’t played as much, but Marrow, along with the rest of the team, looks at her the same way.

‘I think all of them are leaders, all of them showed us the way,’ Marrow said. ‘It feels good knowing you have that leadership. You know what to do. You have someone there, almost like a mentor on your own team. You are able to learn a lot faster, and it’s not as long of a learning process.’

After the 10 a.m. match against Connecticut on Friday, the trio will close out their careers at the Big East tournament, which begins April 28.

This will be only the second graduating class that spent its entire time at SU under Jensen, and he said they show the program’s dramatic growth in only a year’s time. He couldn’t be happier with the tone these three have instilled in the squad, without any upperclassmen to learn from themselves.

‘It’s a very proud moment for this program to graduate those three with such great accomplishments considering they didn’t come in with the best recruiting class or players,’ Jensen said. ‘But they proved themselves and they grew every single day with the program.’

sebail01@syr.edu

— Staff writer Andrew Tredinnick contributed reporting to this article.

Published on April 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1