Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 NEW LONDON, N.H. – October 7, 2017 - The Colby-Sawyer College women's tennis team defeated Husson, 5-0 in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Colby-Sawyer improves to 12-0 and has earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the spring. Husson ends the fall season with a record of 7-4.
The Chargers took a 3-0 lead in the match after sweeping doubles play. Each of the Colby-Sawyer tandems won by an 8-1 score. The No. 1 duo of senior
Ashley Woodside (Hampden, Maine) and freshman
Yashu Yang (Kunming City, China) defeated Charlotte Bednarz (Westport, Mass.) and Sarah Smith (Calais, Maine), while senior
Evelyn Miller (Smithfield, R.I.) and junior
Aislinn O'Connor (New Fairfield, Conn.) downed Husson senior Elizabeth Adley (Rumford, Maine) and junior Meridith Blessard (Lincoln, Maine) at the second spot. The Chargers made it a sweep when senior
Lauren Blanchard (Agawam, Mass.) and senior
Christine Hill (Wallingford, Conn.) came away with a No. 3 victory over senior Samantha Dubay (Fort Kent, Maine) and sophomore Marisa Brown (Lincoln, R.I.).
Colby-Sawyer, needing just two points to claim the title, clinched the championship with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles. Miller, the tournament's MVP, defeated Bednarz in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 at the third spot. Yang got the match clinching point at No. 2 singles with a 6-0, 6-0 triumph over Smith. Yang was named All-Tournament along with Woodside who was leading her No. 1 singles match 6-0, 3-0 when the match was clinched.
Husson's Blessard and Dubay were named to the All-Tournament Team.
SEMIFINALS
Colby-Sawyer, the tournament's top seed, earned a 9-0 win over fourth seed MCLA in the semifinals. The Chargers improved to 11-0 on the season and reached the NAC finals for the seventh straight season. The Trailblazers fell to 4-6.
The Chargers swept doubles action with their top duo of senior
Ashley Woodside (Hampden, Maine) and freshman
Yashu Yang (Kunming City, China) defeating senior Mariza Sfakianaki (Williamstown, Mass.) and junior Sam Gawron (South Hadley, Mass.), 8-2. Colby-Sawyer's
Evelyn Miller (Smithfield, R.I.) and
Aislinn O'Connor (New Fairfield, Conn.) earned an 8-1 victory over sophomore Briana Higgins (Tewksbury, Mass.) and senior Ashley Juskhas (Westfield, Mass.) at No. 2. The No. 3 senior team
Lauren Blanchard (Agawam, Mass.) and
Christine Hill (Wallingford, Conn.) did not drop a game in their 8-0 victory over freshman Lauren Kexel (Waterford, N.Y.) and senior Katherine Grill (East Greenbush, N.Y.).
Woodside dropped just one game at the top flight to defeat Sfakianaki 6-0, 6-1. Yang (No. 2), Miller (No. 3), O'Connor (No. 4) and Blanchard (No. 6) won their singles matches by identical 6-0, 6-0 scores. After not playing doubles, junior
Maddy Gemerek (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) stepped in to play No. 5 and also won by a 6-0, 6-0 score.
SEMIFINALS
The third seed Eagles of Husson University avenged a regular season loss to second Castleton with a 6-2 triumph in Saturday's NAC semifinal. The Eagles will play Colby-Sawyer in the finals after improving to 7-3 on the season. Castleton ends the fall with a 9-5 record.
Husson swept doubles action to take an important 3-0 lead. The top Eagles tandem of Charlotte Bednarz (Westport, Mass.) and Sarah Smith (Calais, Maine) earned an 8-3 victory over Castleton's top duo of Ciara Bannister (St. Albans, Vt.) and Kirsten Kruk (Clifton Park, N.Y.). Senior Elizabeth Adley (Rumford, Maine) and junior Meridith Blessard (Lincoln, Maine) combined for an 8-4 victory at No. 2 over sophomore Megan Nadler (Rutland, Vt.) and freshman Danarose Weaver (Brandon, Vt.). At the third doubles spot, Husson received an 8-5 triumph from senior Samantha Dubay (Fort Kent, Maine) and sophomore Marisa Brown (Lincoln, R.I.) who defeated sophomore Alexis Curley (Greenwich, N.Y.) and sophomore Emily Miller (Collinsville, Conn.).
Castleton got on the board by winning at the second singles flight to cut the deficit to 3-1. Nadler dropped just one game in each set to defeat Smith 6-1, 6-1. Blessard responded for Husson by taking the top singles flight over Bannister 6-3, 6-3. The Spartans hung around with a comeback victory at No. 3 from Kruk. After dropping the first set 6-0, Kruk won the next two over Bednarz 6-2, 6-2.
The match clinching point came from the sixth slot and Samantha Dubay. She downed Curley 6-2, 6-2 to send Husson to the title match.
Adley then added a point to the Eagles' total with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Weaver at No. 5.
With the match in hand, the No. 4 singles match did not finish as each player took a set before playing a super tie break. Emily Miller led 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
All-Tournament Team:
Evelyn Miller – Colby-Sawyer - MVP
Ashley Woodside – Colby-Sawyer
Yashu Yang – Colby-Sawyer
Meridith Blessard – Husson
Samantha Dubay – Husson
Megan Nadler – Castleton
Mariza Sfakianaki – MCLA
For the latest on Colby-Sawyer Athletics, follow the Chargers on Facebook (
www.facebook.com/CSCathletics), Twitter (
www.twitter.com/CSCathletics) and Instagram (
www.instagram.com/CSCathletics).
Colby-Sawyer 5, Husson 0
10/07/17 at New London, N.H. (Mountainside)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Ashley Woodside (CSCW1718) vs. Meridith Blessard (HUS) 6-0, 3-0, unfinished |
| 2. Yashu Yang (CSCW1718) def. Sarah Smith (HUS) 6-0, 6-0 |
| 3. Evelyn Miller (CSCW1718) def. Charlotte Bednarz (HUS) 6-0, 6-0 |
| 4. Marisa Brown (HUS) vs. Aislinn O'Connor (CSCW1718) no result |
| 5. Elizabeth Adley (HUS) vs. Maddy Gemerek (CSCW1718) no result |
| 6. Samantha Dubay (HUS) vs. Lauren Blanchard (CSCW1718) no result |
| Match Notes |
| Husson 7-4 |
| Colby-Sawyer 12-0 |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,2) |
| NAC Final |
| Official: Tamasine Creighton T-1:30 A-30 |
Colby-Sawyer 9, MCLA 0
10/07/17 at New London, N.H. (Kelsey Tennis Courts)
| Match Notes |
| MCLA 4-6 |
| Colby-Sawyer 11-0 |
| NAC Semifinal |
| Official: Tamasine Creighton T-2:25 A-30 |
