NEW LONDON, N.H.—Gordon Women's Tennis dropped its season opener on the road to former conference rival Colby-Sawyer on Thursday evening, 6-2. The Fighting Scots took the No.1 spot in both singles and doubles, but the Chargers found enough in the heart of the order to take the match
Colby-Sawyer improves to 1-0 and will host Southern New Hampshire on Saturday at 1 p.m. Gordon drops to 0-1 and will play at Eastern Nazarene also on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Chargers took two out of three doubles winning at No. 2 and No. 3. Junior Evelyn Miller (Smithfield, R.I.) and sophomore Aislinn O'Connor (New Fairfield, Conn.) continued where they left off last season with another impressive victory at No. 2. The duo defeated Kaelyn Hall (Sugar Land, Texas) and Maddie Berry (Paso Robles, Calif.), 8-1. Juniors Lauren Blanchard (Agawam, Mass.) and Christine Hill (Wallingford, Conn.) combined for an 8-3 win at third doubles over Haley Bean (Trumbull, Conn.) and Abby Caron (Bedford, N.H.). In the closest doubles match of the day, Gordon's top duo of Justine Hanson (Meadow Vista, Calif.) and Abbie Denney (Peoria, Ariz.) edged junior Ashley Woodside (Hampden, Maine) and sophomore Maddy Gemerek (Ballston Spa, N.Y.), 8-6.
Gemerek and O'Connor gave the Chargers a 4-1 lead after winning at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, in straight sets.
After each dropping the first set of their No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches, Blanchard and Hill rebounded nicely with impressive second and third sets to secure wins.
The Fighting Scots' lone singles victory came at the top flight. Denney took the first set 6-2, but Woodside evened the match with a 6-1 win in the second set. Denney closed out the match with a strong 6-1 finish in the third set.
One match went unfinished as Miller and Hanson battled back and forth throughout the first two sets. Each player won a set in a tie-break before the match was called due to darkness.
Release courtesy of Colby-Sawyer Sports Info
Colby-Sawyer 6, Gordon 2
09/01/16 at New London, N.H. (Kelsey Courts)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Abbie Denney (GC) def. Ashley Woodside (CSCW1617) 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 |
| 2. Evelyn Miller (CSCW1617) vs. Justine Hanson (GC) 6-7 (8-10), 7-6 (7-3), unfinished |
| 3. Maddy Gemerek (CSCW1617) def. Kaelyn Hall (GC) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 4. Aislinn O'Connor (CSCW1617) def. Abby Caron (GC) 6-3, 6-1 |
| 5. Lauren Blanchard (CSCW1617) def. Maddie Berry (GC) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 |
| 6. Christine Hill (CSCW1617) def. Haley Bean (GC) 5-7, 6-0, 6-0 |
| Match Notes |
| Gordon 0-1 |
| Colby-Sawyer 1-0 |
| No. 2 singles unfinished due to darkness |
| T-4:00 A-20 |
