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PHILADELPHIA, PA. -- With a 5-1 win over Marywood in the finals, Gwynedd Mercy captured the 2013 Colonial States Athletic Conference Women's Tennis Team Championship for the fifth time in program history.
The Griffins (17-2) gain the conference's automatic entry into the NCAA Division III Tournament which takes place in May of 2014. Pairings and locations will be released at that time.
The match started off with doubles and Gwynedd grinded out three very big wins. After an 8-3 win at #1 doubles from four-time CSAC Player of the Year
Rachel Fein (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) and
Gabrielle Muller (Sicklerville, N.J./Washington Twp.), the next two pairings went into tiebreakers to decide the outcome.
Taylor Michener (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) and freshman
Kristen Kriebel (Hatfield, Pa./Pennridge) outlasted Marywood's Megan Nastelli and Kristen Lambert at second doubles, 9-8 (7-5 in the tiebreak). In the third doubles, senior
Kellie Booth (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) and sophomore
Jenna Caffarello (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) jumped to a 7-4 lead, but saw Rebcecca Lukasak and Avery McCall battle back to tie it at 7-7 before GM prevailed in a 9-7 victory.
Fein made quick work at #1 singles, defeating Carly Leitzel, 6-1, 6-0, to put the Griffins within one win of championship. The team that compiles five wins out of the nine matches is declared the winner.
The Pacers picked up a win at #3 singles as Nastelli downed Muller, 7-5, 6-0.
Caffarello was able to lock down the title as she had to hold off McCall at #6 singles in a very tense 7-5, 8-7 (7-5) win to give GM the fifth and deciding win.
Her win came at the right time as the Pacers were leading in the other three singles matches, adding to the drama at hand.
The Griffins earned a bit of revenge, as the Pacers snapped Gwynedd's four-year run as conference champs in last season's title match.
Singles
1. Fein, Rachel (GMWT) def. Leitzel, Carly (MUWT) 6-1, 6-0
2. Michener, Taylor (GMWT) vs. Hudock, Melissa (MUWT) 4-6, 7-5, 1-5, unfinished
3. Nastelli, Megan (MUWT) def. Muller, Gabrielle (GMWT) 7-5, 6-0
4. Kriebel, Kristen (GMWT) vs. Lambert, Kristen (MUWT) 6-0, 2-6, 1-4, unfinished
5. Booth, Kellie (GMWT) vs. Lukasak, Rebecca (MUWT) 6-7 (3-6), 2-3, unfinished
6. Caffarello, Jenna (GMWT) def. McCall, Avery (MUWT) 7-5, 8-7 (7-5)
Doubles
1. Fein, Rachel/Muller, Gabrielle (GMWT) def. Hudock, Melissa/Leitzel, Carly (MUWT) 8-3
2. Michener, Taylor/Kriebel, Kristen (GMWT) def. Nastelli, Megan/Lambert, Kristen (MUWT) 9-8 (7-5)
3. Booth, Kellie/Caffarello, Jenna (GMWT) def. Lukasak, Rebecca/McCall, Avery (MUWT) 9-7
