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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Tournament MVP
Maelah Nadeau claimed the decisive fifth point at second singles Saturday as host and top-seeded Nazareth edged Stevens, 5-4, in the championship match of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for women's tennis.
The exciting championship match carried with it an automatic berth to next spring's NCAA Division III Tournament. The Golden Flyers remained unbeaten at 11-0 overall and earned their first conference title since 2002. Nazareth will be making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, which is scheduled to be contested May 21-26, 2018 in Claremont, Calif.
"It's exciting because it's something we've never accomplished before," said Nazareth Coach
Paul Waida. "We were able to maintain our mental toughness long enough to prevail."
With the match tied 4-4, Nadeau had to rally to take the final point after dropping the first set to Stevens' Victoria Piskarev 3-6. She squared the match by winning the second set 6-4 and then, with a series of methodical strokes, claimed the third set 6-3 to trigger a victory celebration.
Nazareth fell behind early after dropping two of the three doubles matches. Juniors
Allison Friends and
Marisa Joyce took Nazareth's lone point with an 8-1 win at second doubles. Nadeau and freshman
Erin Schantz lost 8-3 at first doubles to Stevens' tandem of Isabella Calandra and Julia Earl. At third doubles, Nazareth's duo of
Elizabeth Karstedt and
Jackie Lisak suffered their first loss of the season, 8-3, to Stevens' team of Chelsea Braithwaite and Makenna Sargis.
That set the stage for the compelling singles matches, with three matches extended to three sets. Nazareth got straight-set wins from Karstedt at #3 and from Lisak at #4, while Stevens took a point at #6 with Sargis defeating Nazareth's
Aliana Burgos 6-2, 6-1.
Joyce won a three-setter at fifth singles as she defeated Sydney Zoretic 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Stevens tied the score at 4-4 with a three-set win at first singles as Earl outlasted Friends 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Nadeau then finished off Piskarev to lift the Golden Flyers.
The victory concluded the fall season for the Golden Flyers, who will play a handful of matches in the spring before representing the Empire 8 Conference in the NCAAs.