WENHAM, Mass.—Roger Williams pulled out a winner-take-all three-setter at fourth singles to split a 4-4 tie under the lights at the Brigham Athletic Complex Courts on Tuesday evening. The Hawks rebounded from a deficit after doubles play, winning four of six singles matches to grind out the 5-4 result in Commonwealth Coast Conference action.
The Fighting Scots looked poised to pull off the upset over the Hawks for the second consecutive year after taking the bottom two flights in doubles. Kaelyn Hall (Sugar Land, Texas) and Maddie Berry (Paso Robles, Calif.) shook off a comeback from Gabrielle Riley (Barnstable, Mass.) and Allie Grinavic (No. Attleboro, Mass.) to win 7-4 in a tiebreak. Abby Caron (Bedford, N.H.) and Gabby Brucker (Eleva, Wisc.) held their own at third doubles, edging their opponents 8-6.
Kathryn Hughes (Westford, Mass.) and Julia Akerman (Greenwich, Conn.) picked up the Hawks' lone point in doubles, an 8-6 result.
The Hawks took their first lead of the match with straight-set wins at third and sixth singles, as Akerman and Taryn Roche (Greenlawn, N.Y.) each claimed victory. Gordon's Berry evened the match score at three with an impressive 6-4, 6-3 showing at fifth singles over Riley.
Harley Kaiserman (Setauket, N.Y.) dropped the first set to Abbie Denney (Peoria, Ariz.) at first singles, but found a groove in the final two to take a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory. Gordon's Justine Hanson (Meadow Vista, Calif.) countered by doing the same thing, dropping the first set 6-4 before winning each of the final two sets 6-2.
The match came down to the final match on the court with Caron and Ali Stankiewicz (Brunswick, Maine) battling back and forth. Stankiewicz won the first set easily at 6-0, but Caron settled in the second set to win 6-4 and force a third. The Hawks' number four player found just enough to get back Caron 6-3 in the final set to take the overall match.
Roger Williams improves to 7-1 on the season and remains 4-0 in the CCC. Gordon falls to 3-3 on its ledger and 3-2 in the conference.
Gordon hosts Salem State on Thursday at 4 p.m. only its second non-conference match of the year.
Roger Williams 5, Gordon 4
09/20/16 at Wenham, Mass. (Brigham Courts)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Harley Kaiserman (RWU) def. Abbie Denney (GC) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 2. Justine Hanson (GC) def. Kathryn Hughes (RWU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 |
| 3. Julia Akerman (RWU) def. Kaelyn Hall (GC) 6-0, 6-2 |
| 4. Ali Stankiewicz (RWU) def. Abby Caron (GC) 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 |
| 5. Maddie Berry (GC) def. Gabrielle Riley (RWU) 6-4, 6-3 |
| 6. Taryn Roche (RWU) def. Haley Bean (GC) 6-3, 6-1 |
| Match Notes |
| Roger Williams 7-1 (4-0 CCC) |
| Gordon 3-3 (3-2 CCC) |
| Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (3,6,5,1,2,4) |
| Official: David Keene T-3:35 A-60 |
