Flushing, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Tennis team advanced to the East Coast Conference Tournament Final with a 4-0 shutout victory over the University of the District of Columbia in the semifinal round on Friday afternoon at the Queens College Tennis Center.
STAC improves to 8-1 on the year, while UDC closes its 2023 fall campaign at 6-3.
St. Thomas Aquinas began the afternoon by taking two doubles matches, as Ebba Rosberg and Samanta Villegas Robles took a 6-2 victory over Polina Zelentsova and Lina Benjelloun at No. 1 to set the tempo. The team of Elita Silins and Jemima Parkinson would then clinch the all important point for the maroon and gold with a 6-1 triumph over Sofia Belluccio and Laura Marie at the No. 2 position.
The visiting Spartans then quickly looked to finish the contest, with Elita Silins winning at No. 5; 6-0, 6-0 over Claudia Bahamon, Kateryna Kryuchkova besting Celia Bastin 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6 and Samanta Villegas Robles taking a 7-5, 6-0 triumph at the No. 4 position to end the semifinal match and eliminate UDC.
STAC 4/UDC 0 - OFFICIAL RESULTS
Order of finish: 5, 6, 4*
UDC Record: 6-3, 3-2 ECC
STAC Record: 8-1, 4-1 ECC
THE ROCKHILL REPORT
"We are happy with today's win as we have been extremely concerned about UDC since our first meeting", said Head Coach Dan Rockhill. "We knew how good they are and that we would need to play well to advance."
"Our doubles continued to be a strength. Jem and Elita play doubles the correct way and beat a very strong UDC pair who have had success at the top spot this season. I also liked what I saw at third doubles. They are a newly formed team but have rapidly improved this past week."
"Our singles depth was evident again today. Elita, Samy and Kat gave us strong efforts and the 3 points we needed. I am happy for Elise and Vika as well as they were in great position before clinching.
"We are excited to be back in the final tomorrow", commented Rockhill. "Queens is a fantastic team from top to bottom and could be the very best team in the region. We expect a tough battle. That being said, I really like our team."
UP NEXT
#2 St. Thomas Aquinas takes on #1 seed and hosts, Queens College in the ECC Women's Tennis Championship Tournament Final on Saturday (October 28) at 4:00 p.m. Queens defeated #4 Daemen University, 4-0 in the first semifinal matchup on Friday. The Spartans are looking to repeat as tournament champions, and earn their second conference crown in program history.
REGULAR SEASON RECAP
In regular season action, the Knights defeated the Spartans 4-3 on September 30 at Match Point Tennis Club in Orangeburg, New York. STAC began the evening, taking all three doubles matches, as
Sonia Tandelova and
Amanda Kadiri took a 6-2 victory at No. 3 to set the tempo. The team of
Elita Silins and
Jemima Parkinson would clinch the all important point for the Spartans with a 6-2 triumph at the No. 2 position, with the sweep coming via the No. 1 doubles pair of
Ebba Rosberg and
Samanta Villegas Robles.
The host Knights would then take a 3-1 advantage with singles victories at #2, 6 and 3, to put the Spartans on the ropes. However,
Ebba Rosberg (6-3, 7-6 (5)) and
Elita Silins (6-4, 7-5) rallied the maroon and gold back even with wins at the #1 and #5 spots. In the deciding match between Apolline Lamy and
Sonia Tandelova in the #4 position, Lamy would take a 6-4 first set victory, before Tandelova picked up an exciting 7-6 (1) triumph to force a third set. Unfortunately, Lamy would be too strong and took the set 6-3, which helped power Queens to the match victory.
