TROY, N.Y. - The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) women's tennis team, which begins its season this weekend, will be led by two captains, head coach Justin Roe has announced. Seniors Rani Jones and Alex Mednikova both return to the role for the second straight season. 

Jones (New Market, MD / Oakdale), a senior, was also a captain in 2020-21 when the Engineers played a truncated season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In 40 career singles matches, Jones, a bioinformatics and molecular biology major, has 23 victories, including a 14-11 mark in dual matches. In doubles, she is 28-10 with a 21-7 record, primarily playing with Mednikova (Belle Mead, NJ / Montgomery). The duo was 13-4 in 2021-22 when they were the top team in the region and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, becoming the first tandem in school history to do so. 

They were All-Liberty League First Team and Jones earned All-Conference Second Team in singles after going 14-8 overall with a 9-7 dual match record.

Mednikova was All-Liberty League First Team in singles and was the conference's Player of the Year - a first for the Engineers. 

The information technology and web science major was 21-7 overall with a 15-5 dual match record, all at No. 1 singles as a junior. Mednikova earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, another first in the program's history. She was 21-6 overall and 16-4 in doubles a season after not competing in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

In 40 career singles matches, Mednikova is 30-10 overall with a 17-7 dual match record. She has won 29 of 38 doubles matches, including a 20-4 mark in dual matches.

The Engineers, who have five seniors, two sophomores, and three freshmen, compete in the Union College Invitational this weekend. Action begins on Saturday and concludes on Sunday in Schenectady, N.Y.