Tatiana Klacko	Elyse Smilnak	Julia Frattaroli	Nastashia DeNunzio	Emilia Jakubek	Katherine Loughlin

Box Score

The University of Scranton defeated visiting Elizabethtown 5-0 in a Landmark Conference women's tennis semifinal at the Royal Courts on Tuesday to advance to Saturday's conference championship match.  The Royals, who improved to 17-3 on the season with their eighth straight victory, will take on Catholic on Saturday for the Landmark Conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Scranton will be playing for its fourth Landmark Conference crown and first since 2014 on Saturday.  The Royals have won five postseason titles including two in the Middle Atlantic Conference.

The Royals took control of Tuesday's match by sweeping doubles play to hold a 3-0 advantage heading into singles competition.

Julia Frattaroli (Newtown, Conn./Newtown) and Nastashia DeNunzio (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore) battled to an important, 8-6 victory at #1 doubles after the Royals posted 8-4 decision at both #2 and #3 doubles.

Emilia Jakubek (Honesdale, Pa./Scranton Prep) and Tatiana Klacko (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Prep) teamed up for Scranton's win at #2 doubles while Elyse Smilnak (Hollidaysburg, Pa./Hollidaysburg) and Katherine Loughlin (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) gave the Royals the triumph in the third flight.

Scranton entered singles play needing two wins out of the six matches to close out the match and the Royals got them at flights #4 and #6.

Smilnak earned a 6-3, 6-0 victory at #6 singles for her second win of the day before Klacko ended the match with her second victory of the day, a 6-4, 6-1 decision at #4 singles.

The remaining four contests were not finished though the Royals had one the opening set in three of those four matches.

Third-seeded Catholic defeated #2 seed Moravian 5-4 in Tuesday's other semifinal to set up Saturday's showdown at Scranton.  The Royals defeated the Cardinals 9-0 during the regular season in a match that was played at the Birchwood Tennis Club on April 8.

Saturday's Landmark Conference championship match will start at 1:00 p.m. at the Royal Courts.

--ROYALS--