HOUGHTON, NY – The Hartwick women's tennis team's renaissance season is looking for a fairytale ending this weekend, as the Hawks will travel to the campus of Houghton College for the 2021 Empire 8 Women's Tennis Championship. 'Wick earned the second seed in this year's tournament, the highest placement in program history, and finished the conference season with a 5-1 record, a program-best winning percentage. The Hawks will take on third-seeded St. John Fisher on Friday, October 15 at 2 p.m.
The Hawks have been led by Jade Killikelly (Jamaica, NY/The Mary Louis Academy) who holds a 3-2 conference record at #1 singles and teamed up with Victoria Wilson (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Catholic Academy) for a 5-1 Empire 8 record at top doubles. Ryann Ashby (Malta, NY/Ballston Spa) has also been a big contributor for the Hawks, as she has a 3-2 conference record at #2 singles and has partnered with Val Kohberger (Seneca Falls, NY/Mynderse Academy) for a 4-1 conference record at second doubles. 'Wick's full singles lineup projects to be: Killikelly (#1), Ashby (#2), Wilson (#3), Kohberger (#4), Jess Sexton (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) (#5), and Colleen Marsh (Marcellus, NY/Marcellus) (#6).
St. John Fisher, at 5-4 overall, 4-2 in the Empire 8, and just two seasons removed from their first Empire 8 Championship, has been anchored by Mikayla Santulli, Kathryn Strait, and Valerie Morgans in the top three singles spots. Santulli and Strait usually make up the top doubles pairing, Jacqueline Chouinard and Morgans are the most used second pairing, and Veronika Jurczuk and Elizabeth Schneider generally round out the Cardinals at third pairing.
Hartwick was victorious in this season's matchup between the two teams, making the long trip to Rochester for a slim 5-4 victory on September 11. Killikelly and Wilson took out Santulli/Strait at top doubles, 8-6, and Sexton and Jessica Best (Niskayuna, NY/Colonie) were victorious at third pairing, also 8-6. Sexton (opponent retirement in first set), Marsh (4-6, 6-3, 6-3), and Best (6-1, 6-1) won at fourth through sixth singles to deliver the 'Wick win.
The format of each Tournament match is a dual match played until decision (five points). There are three doubles matches followed by six singles matches, with no-ad scoring for both singles and doubles matches. Singles matches will play two out of three sets, while doubles will play first to eight games with a 12-point tiebreaker at seven-all.
The winner of Friday's matchup will meet the winner of the day's earlier match, #1 Nazareth against #4 Houghton, in the Championship. That match will be played on Saturday, October 16, at 1 p.m., also on the Houghton campus.
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