Skyhawks kick off third consecutive championship bid on home courts
Chelsea Haedrich was a double winner for Stonehill in last year's tournament opener against the Lightning. |
EASTON, Mass. (April 29, 2011) – Stonehill College will begin the NCAA Division II Women’s Tennis Championships with a rematch of last year’s East Regional opener, as the fourth-seeded Skyhawks host fifth-seeded Goldey-Beacom College on Sunday at noon in the first match of the East Regional #1 bracket.
Stonehill (18-3, 12-1 NE-10), who have earned their third consecutive and sixth overall NCAA tournament bid, will serve as host of the three-team bracket in the seven-team East Regional field. The Skyhawks, who finished second in both the Northeast-10 Conference regular season and tournament to third-seeded Southern New Hampshire University, are in search of their second East Regional title after winning the program's first regional championship in 2009.
Goldey-Beacom (12-5, 7-1 CACC) are making their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance in the program’s sixth year of competition. The Lightning were runners-up in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular season and tournament during their fall conference season, and enter Sunday’s match after a month-long layoff following the completion of their spring schedule.
Stonehill defeated the Lightning 5-0 in last year’s regional bracket to advance to the regional final for the second straight year. Chelsea Haedrich (Islip, N.Y./Islip) won the decisive match at sixth singles and teamed with Sarah Hickey (Lee, Mass./Lee) for a win at third doubles, and Paige Frost (Brigantine, N.J./Holy Spirit) claimed a straight-sets victory at fifth singles as the Skyhawks swept to an opening-round win.
Amy Toegemann and Haedrich will look to extend their winning streak at third doubles. |
Several Stonehill and Goldey-Beacom players also met in individual competition at this fall’s USTA/ITA East Regional Championships in Philadelphia, where the Skyhawks won seven of their eight matchups with the Lightning. Frost defeated Goldey-Beacom’s Vanessa Leon (Caracas, Venezuela/S. Bolivar Y G. Garibaldi) and Laura Cure Peters (Maracaibo, Venezuela/School Mater Salvatoris) on her way to winning the B-flight singles title. The doubles team of Leah White (Walpole, Mass./Bishop Feehan) and Kaitlyn Martin (Medway, Mass./Medway) also defeated the duo of Cure Peters and Leon in the semifinals of the B-flight doubles bracket, where they advanced to win the doubles championship over Southern New Hampshire in the final match.
The Skyhawks will rely on their doubles teams again on Sunday as they aim to pick up points early against Goldey-Beacom. White and Martin have played at the second doubles position throughout the season, and lead Stonehill with a 24-4 overall record as one of the top doubles pairings in the NE-10. Haedrich and Amy Toegemann (Narragansett, R.I./The Lincoln School) have been stellar at third doubles this spring, coming into the weekend on a 12-match winning streak, and dominated conference competition with an 8-0 record in the NE-10.
Goldey-Beacom is strong in the middle of the singles lineup, led by Melanie Bonomo (Maracay, Venezuela/CEDI) with a 12-4 record at fourth singles and Cure Peters with a 10-4 mark at No. 5. Gabriela Chaves (Joao Pessoa - PB, Brazil/Colegio Motiva) and Blanca Sancho (Zaragoza, Spain/I.E.S. Miguel Catalan) will challenge at No. 2 doubles with a 9-2 record during the regular season, while Cure Peters and Leon went 10-2 overall at No. 3 for the Lightning.
Sunday’s winner will advance to the East Regional #1 final on Monday morning to face top-seeded Queens (N.Y.) College, who received a bye through the first round of the regional tournament.
2011 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis East Region #1
Hosted by Stonehill College
Sunday, May 1
#4 Stonehill vs. #5 Goldey-Beacom, 12:00 p.m.
Monday, May 2
#1 Queens (N.Y.) vs. #4 Stonehill/#5 Goldey-Beacom, 11:00 a.m.
