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Army, Bucknell and Colgate Advance at Patriot League Women's Tennis Tournament
April 20, 2012
2012 Patriot League Women's Tennis Championship Central BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The higher seeds won two of the three quarterfinal matches Friday at the Patriot League Women's Tennis Tournament at the Ulrich Varsity Courts on the Goodman Campus of Lehigh University, including seven-time defending League champion Army. The Black Knights advanced to Saturday's semifinals with a 4-0 victory over Holy Cross, and will meet No. 3 seed Colgate, a 4-0 winner over sixth-seeded Lafayette. In Friday's first match, No. 5 seed Bucknell won its eighth straight quarterfinal match with a 4-0 triumph over fourth-seeded and host Lehigh. The Bison will take on top-seeded Navy in the first of two semifinals Saturday. Their match is slated for 10 a.m. The second semifinal pits No. 2 Army against third-seeded Colgate at 2 p.m. The semifinal winners will advance to Sunday's championship match at 1 p.m., with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. No. 5 Bucknell 4, No. 4 Lehigh 0 Fifth-seeded Bucknell captured the doubles point and collected singles victories at the third, fourth and fifth flights to post a 4-0 sweep of No. 4 seed Lehigh in the opening match of the 2012 Patriot League Women's Tennis Tournament. The Bison will take on top-seeded Navy in the first of two semifinal matches Saturday. Their contest is slated for 10 a.m. at the Ulrich Varsity Tennis Courts. Dumitrita Iepuras and Elizabeth Morgan opened the scoring by capturing the third doubles match, 8-4, over the Lehigh tandem of Gabby Drucker and Emily Bruch. The Bison clinched the doubles point when Elena Vidrascu and Daria Tuzhikova won 8-6 at No. 1 over Jenai Bilimoria and Abby Farrell. Tuzhikova earned her second victory of the day with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Drucker at No. 4 singles to put Bucknell ahead 2-0. The Bison extended the lead to 3-0 in the match when Lydia Colvin won 6-0, 6-4 over Kathleen Larkin. Courtney Casey's 6-3, 6-0 triumph over Bruch at No. 5 singles clinched the match and punched Bucknell's ticket in the semifinals.
Lehigh appeared poised to pick up some points in the match. Bilimoria and Farrell were both up by a set at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, when the match was finalized. Lehigh's Jill Sloand and Bucknell's Christie Schneider had each won a set in their contest at No. 6. Doubles 1. Vidrascu/Tuzhikova (BU) def. Bilimoria/Farrell (LU) 8-6 Order of finish: 3, 1 Singles 1. Jenai Bilimoria (LU) vs. Dumitrita Iepuras (BU) 7-5, 1-0, DNF Order of finish: 4, 3, 5 No. 3 Colgate 4, No. 6 Lafayette 0 Third-seeded Colgate won its quarterfinal match in the Patriot League Women's Tennis Tournament for the fifth consecutive year when it recorded a 4-0 victory over No. 6 Lafayette Friday at the Ulrich Varsity Courts. The Raiders will take on No. 2 see Army in Saturday's semifinals, with their contest slated to begin at 2 p.m. Colgate earned the doubles point after Alex Petrini and Stephanie Brown picked up an 8-2 victory over Jordyn Spellberg and Austin Denesuk at No. 1, while Merideth Rock and Jackie Finn were victorious, 8-5, over Katherine Charhalis and Amanda Kusnierz at the third flight. The Raiders were also leading at No. 2 when the doubles point was secured. Kelsey Shea put the Raiders in front 2-0 when she won 6-0, 6-3 over Katherine Charchalis at No. 2 singles. Olivia Rauh swept Lauren Gibbons 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles, while Kelsey Wanhainen picked up a 6-3, 6-1 victory at No. 4 over Lucy Bass to clinch the win for head coach Bobby Pennington. The Raiders also held one-set leads at Nos. 1 and 5 singles, while Lafayette was up a set at No. 3. Doubles 1. Petrini/Brown (CU) def. Spellberg/Denesuk (LC) 8-2 Order of finish: 1, 3 Singles 1. Alex Petrini (CU) vs. Jordyn Spellberg (LC) 6-4, 4-2, DNF Order of finish: 2, 6, 4 No. 2 Army 4, No. 7 Holy Cross 0 No. 2 seed Army advanced to the semifinals of the Patriot League Women's Tennis Tournament after posting a 4-0 victory over seventh-seeded Holy Cross at the Ulrich Varsity Tennis Courts on the Goodman Campus of Lehigh University. Erin Colton and Jamila Paul won 8-0 over Emily Marr and Carolyn Chandley at No. 2 doubles, while sisters Della and Elle Taylor logged an 8-0 victory at No. 1 over Taylor Stathis and Molly Montgomery to clinch the doubles point for the seven-time defending champion Black Knights. Army's impressive showing continued when Margaret Iliev collected a 6-0, 6-0 win over Chandley at No. 4 singles to put Army up 2-0. Natalie Allen's 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles versus Emily Marr extended Army's lead to 3-0, and Della Taylor clinched the final point with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Maya Welch at No. 5. The Black Knights were leading in the other three singles matches as well. Army will go up against third-seeded Colgate in Saturday's second semifinal at approximately 2 p.m. Doubles 1. D. Taylor/E. Taylor (Army) def. Stathis/Montgomery (HC) 8-0 Order of finish: 2, 1 Singles 1. Erin Colton (Army) vs. Taylor Stathis (HC) 6-2, 2-0, DNF Order of finish: 4, 3, 5 |
