WESTON, Mass. – The #1 Regis College women's tennis team advanced to their fourth straight New England Collegiate Conference Championship game by sweeping #4 Bay Path University 9-0 in the NECC Semifinals on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Pride improve to 12-1, 11-0 NECC on the year and the loss ends the Wildcats season at 5-9, 5-6 NECC.
The win was the Prides' 35th consecutive against NECC opponents as their last loss came against Becker on October 1, 2012. Regis also went 3-0 against Bay Path this season with all three wins coming by a 9-0 margin.
Regis swept doubles play with the no. 3 doubles duo of Jewel Medeiros (Rochester, Mass.)/Sara Kanarkiewicz sweeping the pair of Yismel Rosario (Methuen, Mass.)/Kimberly Drahushuk (Hudson, N.Y.) 8-0 to earn the first point of the match for the Pride. Junior Emily Rice (Pittsfield, Mass.) and her partner Katasha Jarvis (Mt. Vernon, N.Y.) earned an 8-2 win at no. 2 doubles against opponents Brittany Schafer (Brooklyn, N.Y.)/Edna Aboagye (Wappinger Falls, N.Y.).
The best matchup in doubles play came at the no. 1 position. After being tied up at 2-2, teammates Jessie Lord (Fall River, Mass.) and Erica Murphy (Portsmouth, N.H.) rallied back to outscore seniors Brittany Walsh (N. Smithfield, R.I.)/Taylor Wood (Castleton, N.Y.) 6-2 to take an 8-4 win as the Pride headed into singles play with an early 3-0 advantage.
In singles action, the Crimson and Gold needed just two wins to lock up the trip to the championship game. Regis rose to the challenge and delivered two shutouts with Jewel Medeiros defeating Brittany Schafer 6-0, 6-0 at no. 5 singles and sophomore Amy DiPace (Cambridge, Mass.) earning the 6-0, 6-0 sweep at no. 6 singles. Those two matches were the only sweeps of the contest and they proved crucial to the Prides' championship dreams.
Murphy, Rice and Jarvis also defeated their opponents in singles play handily, but the matchup of the afternoon came at no. 1 singles with Jessie Lord squaring off against Brittany Walsh. Lord took the first game by a 6-4 score, but Walsh kept the pressure on the junior captain as she held a 3-2 lead on Lord at one point in the second game. Lord regained her composure and took over the match as she came back and beat Walsh 6-4 in the second contest.
Regis returns to the courts tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. for the NECC Championship game against the winner of the #3 Lesley/#2 Becker game that is being played today at 1:00 p.m.