MADISON, N.J. - Led by a sweep of three doubles matches, the fourth-seeded University of Scranton women's tennis team shocked top-seeded Drew, 5-2, in the Semifinals of the 2017 Landmark Conference Championship on Wednesday.
With the victory, the Royals improved to 8-8 overall for the year, and will move onto the Landmark Conference Championship match on Saturday, where they will take on second-seeded Elizabethtown on the road.
Drew, meanwhile, finished their season with a 14-2 overall mark with the defeat.
On the day, the Royals began the day on a roll, taking all three doubles matches contested to open a 3-0 lead on the host Rangers before singles play could begin.
The first point of the day was collected by the freshman tandem of Nastashia DeNunzio (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore) and Emily Kelly (West Chester, Pa/B.Reed Henderson), who collected an 8-4 win at number two to put the Royals up, 1-0.
Next in the top spot of doubles, the team of senior Emily Machado (Fishkill, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) and sophomore Emilia Jakubek (Honesdale, Pa./Scranton Prep) also won by an 8-4 score, putting the Royals up, 2-0.
The sweep was then competed in the number three spot by junior Katherine Loughlin (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) and sophomore Elyse Smilnak (Holidaysburg, Pa./Holidaysburg), who gutted out a 9-7 win to give Scranton a 3-0 lead.
In singles, Drew collected their first point of the day with a win at number two. But, Scranton countered the point with a straight set victory by Smilnak at number four to put the Royals up, 4-1.
With Scranton needing just one more singles win to capture the match, Drew stayed alive with a win at number one singles. But, it didn't matter, as Kelly rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 win at number six to clinch the upset victory for the Royals.
Scranton will now move onto the Landmark Conference Championship match, where they will take on second-seeded Elizabethtown on Saturday at a time to be determined. The Blue Jays won their semifinal match on Wednesday over third-seed Moravian, 5-1.
More information will be posted on the contest later this week at athletics.scranton.edu.
Scranton 5, Drew 2
May 03, 2017 at Madison, N.J. (Drew Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. Ashley Camel (DREW) def. Nastashia DeNunzio (SCRWT17) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Ty Ty Witten (DREW) def. Emily Machado (SCRWT17) 6-0, 6-3
3. Jessica Cheng (DREW) vs. Emilia Jakubek (SCRWT17) 7-6 (7-3), 1-2, unfinished
4. Elyse Smilnak (SCRWT17) def. Cristina Riccio (DREW) 6-3, 6-0
5. M. Navas Espinal (DREW) vs. Sakira Fussner (SCRWT17) 7-5, 5-1, unfinished
6. Emily Kelly (SCRWT17) def. Megan Jarvis (DREW) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Emily Machado/Emilia Jakubek (SCRWT17) def. Ashley Camel/Ty Ty Witten (DREW) 8-4
2. Nastashia DeNunzio/Emily Kelly (SCRWT17) def. Jessica Cheng/M. Navas Espinal (DREW) 8-4
3. Katherine Loughlin/Elyse Smilnak (SCRWT17) def. Cristina Riccio/C. Christodoulou (DREW) 9-7
Match Notes
Scranton 8-8
Drew 14-2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,4,1,6)
Landmark Conference Championship Semifinals
No. 4 Scranton at No. 1 Drew
Official: Jeff Kraft
--ROYALS--
