(West Point, NY – April 26, 2013) The Colgate women’s tennis team will make its seventh-straight appearance in the Patriot League semifinals after defeating Lehigh, 4-1, on Thursday at the Malak Courts.
The Raiders were able to gain a 1-0 advantage after winning the doubles point with two-straight wins. Jennifer Ho and Jackie Finn earned the first win of the tournament with an 8-2 win over Jill Sloand and Marian Prim. Colgate clinched the point with its top pair of Kelsey Shea and Merideth Rock winning by the same score, while Alex Petrini and Lexi Lazares were ahead 4-3 when the point was decided.
In singles play, rookie Katie Grant got things started for the Raiders to put her team up 2-0 with a straight-set win at the sixth spot in the lineup. She took the first set by a 6-3 score and followed that with a 6-4 to earn her first collegiate postseason victory.
Lehigh got one point back with Jenal Billmoria countering Grant’s win with one of her own over Shea at the top position to cut the Colgate lead down to 2-1. The lead ballooned to 3-1 after Petrini’s up-and-down match with the Mountain Hawks’ Abby Farrell. The Colgate junior raced out to a 6-0 win in the opening set, but Farrell returned the favor with a 6-0 victory in the second. Petrini regrouped and fired back with a convincing 6-1 win in the third set to give the Raiders the commanding lead.
The match-clinching victory came from Colgate’s senior captain. Rock was playing in the fifth spot and dug herself out of an early hole to win it for the Raiders. She dropped the opening set at 6-2, but answered quickly and with force. Rock only gave up one game in the final two sets as she pushed Colgate into the semifinals with 6-1 and 6-0 wins in the last two sets.
Kelsey Wanhainen was in the third set of her match and was ahead 2-0 when the match was called. She won the first at 7-5 and then came up short in the second at 6-2. Ho was down 4-0 in the third set of her match with Emily Bruch. The two split the first two sets with the first coming as a 7-6 win for Bruch.
“The dream season for the women continues as they won a hard fought match with Lehigh to gain our 12th win and seventh-straight trip to the semifinal round,” head coach Bobby Pennington said. “Total credit goes to our lights out doubles play and our strong play from Petrini and Rock, pulling out tough third sets to clinch. We are excited to advance and are ready for our match with Army.”
#4 Colgate 4, #5 Lehigh 1
Doubles
Order of finish 3, 1, 2
1. Kelsey Shea/Merideth Rock (CLG) def. Jenal Billmoria/Abby Farrell (L), 8-2
2. Alex Petrini/Lexi Lazares (CLG) vs. Taylor Hampshire/Alexandra Kaminetsky (l), 4-3 DNF
3. Jennifer Ho/Jackie Finn (CLG) def. Jill Sloand/Marian Prim (L), 8-2
Singles
Order of finish 6, 1, 2, 5
1. Billmoria (L) def. Shea (Colgate), 6-4, 6-2
2. Petrini (Colgate) def. Farrell (L), 6-0, 0-6, 6-1
3. Kelsey Wanhainen (Colgate) vs. Kaminetsky (L), 7-5, 2-6, 2-0 DNF
4. Emily Bruch (L) vs. Ho (Colgate), 6-7, 6-4, 4-0 DNF
5. Rock (Colgate) def. Molly Brooks (L), 2-6, 6-1, 6-0
6. Katie Grant (Colgate) def. Prim (L), 6-3, 6-4