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Army and Navy to Battle for Patriot League Women's Tennis Title
April 21, 2012
2012 Patriot League Women’s Tennis Tournament Central BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Academy rivals Army and Navy will battle for the Patriot League Women’s Tennis Tournament Championship for the second straight season after both were semifinal winners Saturday at the Ulrich Varsity Courts on the Goodman Campus of Lehigh University. Sunday's championship final is set for 12 p.m. at Lehigh's Lewis Tennis Center. The match was moved indoors in anticipation of inclement weather. Navy, which claimed the tournament’s top seed, earned a bye to the semifinals. The Mids’ first action of the bracket came in Saturday’s first semifinal. Navy captured a 4-0 win over fifth-seeded Bucknell to secure their second straight trip to the championship final. Army, which advanced to Saturday’s semifinals after defeating Holy Cross Friday in the quarterfinals, was a 4-0 winner over No. 3 seed Colgate in the second match of the day. Army and Navy met in the 2011 championship match, which was the first meeting between the academy rivals. The two did not square off in the regular season. Sunday’s match will be their second meeting. No. 1 Navy 4, No. 5 Bucknell 0 Top-seeded Navy picked up singles victories at the No. 2, 4 and 5 flights to capture a 4-0 win over No. 5 Bucknell in the first semifinal match Saturday at the Ulrich Varsity Courts in the 2012 Patriot League Women’s Tennis Tournament. Navy reaches the Patriot League championship match for the second straight season, and will take on academy rival Army in Sunday’s title match at 1 p.m. With inclement weather in the forecast, the match is likely to be moved indoors to the Lewis Tennis Center, which is adjacent to the Ulrich Varsity Courts. The Mids collected the doubles point after three hotly-contested matches. Darien Sears and Dye Das won 8-5 over Dumitrita Iepuras and Elizabeth Morgan at No. 3 to give Navy the early advantage, but the Bison battled back. Lydia Colvin and Courtney Casey logged an 8-6 victory over Erin Snook and Noelle Kaufmann at No. 2, leaving the crucial doubles point up to the top flight. In the closest match of doubles, Emani Decquir and Stefanie Ton outlasted Bucknell’s Elena Vidrascu and Daria Tuzhikova 9-7 to put Navy up 1-0.
The lead expanded to 2-0 after Snook posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Tuzhikova at No. 4 singles, and shortly thereafter the Mids took a 3-0 advantage when Decquir won 6-0, 6-3 at No. 2 singles over Vidrascu. The Mids clinched the victory when Gabby Winter finished off a 6-2, 6-1 win over Casey at No. 5 singles. Navy was up a set at Nos. 1, 3 and 6 singles when the match was clinched. Doubles Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1 Singles Order of Finish: 4, 2, 5 No. 2 Army 4, No. 3 Colgate 0 Seven-time defending Patriot League champion Army will go for eight in a row after the second-seeded Black Knights picked up a 4-0 win over No. 3 Colgate in Saturday’s second semifinal at the 2012 Patriot League Women’s Tennis Tournament. Army took a 1-0 lead in the match when it captured the doubles point. Erin Colton and Jamila Paul captured an 8-3 win over Kelsey Shea and Kelsey Wanhainen at No. 2. The Black Knights won at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles as well, with the contests ending simultaneously. Della and Elle Taylor won 8-4 over Alex Petrini and Stephanie Brown at No. 1, while Margaret Iliev and Carly Riney were 8-0 victors over Merideth Rock and Jackie Finn at No. 3. The Black Knights went ahead 2-0 when Elle Taylor defeated Olivia Rauh 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 singles, and took a 3-0 lead after Natalie Allen’s 6-1, 6-1 triumph against Brown. Army clinched the match at No. 4 singles after Iliev’s 6-3, 6-0 win over Wanhainen. The Black Knights were also leading at the other three singles contests when the match was wrapped up. Doubles Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1 Singles Order of Finish: 6, 3, 4 |
