The St. John's women's tennis team has had one of the most exciting seasons in school history. In addition to an impressive 10-5 overall record, the team made history when, earlier this season, they received national recognition with a top-75 ITA ranking.

The Red Storm's spring schedule was a tough one early. In addition to the strength of competition, St. John's played their first 11 matches on the road. Despite what could have been viewed as disadvantages, the Red Storm came out strong and opened the season with an easy 7-0 sweep of local rival Stony Brook and followed it up with a 4-3 win over Colgate. The Red Storm continued their run as the BIG EAST season kicked in and convincingly beat Georgetown, 6-1 on the road, before a 4-3 win over Duquesne.

On February 20, the team's streak was snapped, as West Virginia outlasted the Red Storm in a back-and-fourth battle in Morgantown, that saw the Mountaineers edge out St. John's, 4-3. St. John's was back on track in their next outing when they picked up a 5-2 win at the University of Akron, before the Red Storm fell to Princeton in a tough match. St. John's battled with the Tigers, a perennial regional power, losing the doubles point after a 9-8 (5) struggle at No. 3 and suffered two three set losses in singles action.

"It is clear that we were at a breakthrough moment with the program," said Head Coach Gemma Alexander-Mozeak. "When we won, we won convincingly; when we didn't, it was usually by the slimmest margin."

A 4-3 win over Rutgers put St. John's at 2-1in the conference and kicked off an impressive five-match winning streak in the midst of two-months on the road. The Red Storm once again showed their ability to control a match when they handed St. Bonaventure a 7-0 loss in Olean, N.Y. and came out strong the following day to easily beat Pittsburgh, 6-1.

With an 8-2 overall record, the St. John's women's tennis team found themselves on the national tennis radar for the first time in school history. Having defeated several top programs, all on the road, the Red Storm earned a spot in the ITA Top-75 on March 25, 2004.

"The ranking reflects our team's strong play through more than half of the primary spring season, " said Mozeak. "We saw our potential clearly in the fall season and carried it through to the spring."

St. John's closed out their 11-match road trip with another 7-0 sweep, this time over regional rival, Holy Cross. After almost three months on the road, the Red Storm finally returned to Jamaica, N.Y. on March 26, and did so in good fashion, as they won their fifth-straight match with a 6-1 win over BIG EAST foe Villanova.

The grueling road schedule took its toll on St. John's, as they fell 5-2 at Syracuse in their next outing, before falling to Seton Hall at home. St. John's was back on the road again in their last outing, a 5-2 loss at Army, but the Red Storm got some much needed rest and closed out the regular season with wins over Connecticut (5-2) and Providence (5-0).

"While we were a bit tired from traveling to 87% of our matches this season, we were well rested to close out the season, and, as I expected, we finished the season the way we began, playing solid tennis."