Bronxville, NY – The Concordia College Clippers women's tennis captured their third straight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship title this afternoon. The #1 seeded Clippers won 5-2 over the #3 Goldey-Beacom College in a rematch of the 2009 and 2010 championship matches.
Concordia began the afternoon playing in the doubles matches which they have been very successful with this season. In the 30 doubles matches that the Clippers have played in, only one was a loss. Today they made sure to make a statement early to take an early lead.
Clara Catanzano (Sete, France) and Yuliya Plevako (Astana, Kazakhstan) won their #1 doubles match 9-8 (7-5) over the duo of Stephanie Puentes (Bogota, Columbia) and Anastasia Melnikova (Vladivostok, Russia). The #2 doubles team of Ana S.O. Mendes (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) and Juliana Frey (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) won their match easily, 8-2 over Marina Sales (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Gabriela Chaves (Joao Pessoa - PB, Brazil). The #3 doubles team of Camilla Gomes Xavier (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and Maria Ortiz (Bogota, Columbia) would follow suit as they took down Blanca Sancho (Zaragoza, Spain) and Vanessa Leon (Caracas, Venezuela) 8-5 to give Concordia a 3-0 lead heading into singles play.
Plevako faced off against the Lightning's Puentes in the #1 singles match. Earlier this season, Plevako fell to the first-year athlete and today she would struggle once again losing 6-2, 6-3. Catanzano also had trouble in her #3 singles match against Filipa Correia (Lisboa, Portugal) as she fell 6-2, 6-4.
Mendes and Sancho would play an intense battle in the #2 singles match. After losing the first set 6-4, Sancho would win set number two 6-2 to put the pressure on the Clippers with an opportunity to steal an important win. Mendes battled her way to the eventual 6-3 third set victory which put Concordia one win away from the championship title.
The fifth match victory for the Clippers came from Ortiz, a senior, who defeated Melanie Bonomo (Maracay, Venezuela) 6-2, 6-1 in the #5 singles match. With the match win, Concordia won the championship title and regular season title for the third consecutive season.
Following the championship match, Mendes was named the Tournament MVP for the Clippers as she won three of her four matches this weekend; one match went unfinished.
With an NCAA Regional playoff position secured, Concordia will wait until the spring to compete for a chance to win the NCAA Division II title.
