MANCHESTER, N.H.—Gordon Women's Tennis clinched itself a winning fall record, beating Division II opponent Saint Anselm 5-4 on Saturday. Every Gordon starter notched a win on either side of the ledger in a total team win to bring the Scots record to 7-4.
The Hawks rolled to the first point of the day with an 8-0 blanking at second doubles by Jess Perkins (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Kaitlin Hughes (Rockland, Mass.). Gordon got the point right back with an 8-2 win at the third flight by Abby Caron (Bedford, N.H.) and Gabby Brucker (Eleva, Wisc.).
Gordon took the important 2-1 advantage when Abbie Denney (Peoria, Ariz.) and Justine Hanson (Meadow Vista, Calif.) did just enough to get by their opponents 8-6 at the top flight.
Saint Anselm answered the bell with Perkins completing a near perfect match at the No.1 singles flight. The seesaw battle continued with the two teams splitting the second and third flights, which including a solid win for Kaelyn Hall (Sugar Land, Texas) at three.
The Hawks went up in the match score with a 6-3, 6-0 win at fourth singles, but Maddie Berry (Paso Robles, Calif.) and Haley Bean (Trumbull, Conn.) completed straight-set victories to give the Scots the impressive win overall.
Gordon closes out its regular season on Monday when they host Assumption before hosting Western New England in the first round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference playoffs on Wednesday.
Nichols capped off a perfect 8-0 (12-3 overall) Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) schedule on Saturday to earn the top seed and a first-round bye in the 2016 CCC Women's Tennis Championship Tournament.
In CCC play this year, the Bison only dropped seven games with three of them coming in their 5-3 victory over Endicott.
Nichols is looking to return to the CCC Championship match after being ousted in the CCC Semifinals by eventual CCC Champion Endicott last year. The loss ended the Bison's five-year stretch of making the Conference final.
The five-time reigning champion Gulls finished the 2016 season with a 7-1 (9-3 overall) Conference record to claim the second seed in this year's tournament and the other first round bye.
These two teams will await the winners of the CCC Quarterfinals which get underway on Wednesday, Oct. 12. No. 3-seed Roger Williams (10-3, 6-2 CCC) will host No. 6-seed Wentworth (4-9, 3-5 CCC) in one quarterfinal at 3 p.m., while No. 4-seed Gordon (6-4, 5-3 CCC) hosts No. 5-seed Western New England (5-4, 4-4 CCC) at 4 p.m. in the other.
The two quarterfinal winners will advance to the semifinals with the Roger Williams-Wentworth winner visiting the Gulls at 1:30 p.m. and the Gordon-Western New England winner traveling to Nichols for a 2 p.m. match. The semifinal round is on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
The semifinal winners earn a trip to the CCC Championship match which takes place on Saturday, Oct. 22 with the Conference's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championship on the line.
Tournament Schedule
(Matches hosted by the higher seed)
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Oct. 12
#5 Western New England at #4 Gordon, 4:00 p.m.
#6 Wentworth at #3 Roger Williams, 3:00 p.m.
Semifinals – Tuesday, Oct. 18
#4/5 winner at #1 Nichols, 2:00 p.m.
#3/6 winner at #2 Endicott, 1:30 p.m.
Finals – Saturday, Oct. 22
Semifinal winners at higher seed, TBA
Portion of release courtesy of CCC Sports Info
