For the First Time! Stevens Wins First-Ever Empire 8 Women's Tennis Championship
Senior Julia Earl's Win at No. 2 Singles Helps Ducks Claim Title
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. - Stevens won the Empire 8 Conference Women's Tennis Championship Saturday afternoon in thrilling fashion over No. 1 Nazareth 5-4 at the Washington Township Tennis and Fitness Club. Stevens and Nazareth were in a back and forth affair with the match's deciding point coming down to second singles flight. Stevens senior captain
Julia Earl defeated Nazareth's
Elizabeth Karstedt in three sets to give the Ducks their first-ever E8 title in the sport. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, Earl - the Championship's Most Valuable Player - sealed the win by taking the next two sets 6-3, 6-2.
"I could not be prouder of this entire team for constantly fighting this season to be the best we could be. I would not have wanted to win this honor with anyone else," said Earl. "It's a truly incredible feeling knowing how much work every single person on this team put in all season and having it completely pay off in the end."
It was an entertaining Championship Final from start to finish. Stevens captured the momentum early as the Ducks took two of the three doubles flights to give them a 2-1 lead heading into singles action. Freshman
Agatha Malinowski and junior
Isabella Calandra posted a win in No. 1 doubles. The duo defeated
Brooke Murphy and
Erin Schantz 8-1 and improve to 11-0 on the season. The Golden Flyers got on the board by taking the second doubles flight 8-3, but freshman
Alexis Fuda and senior
Sydney Zoretic responded for Stevens. The pair team came up big to win the flight 8-7 with a 7-5 tiebreak win.
Stevens needed three more points to clinch the conference title, but Nazareth did not make it easy.
Alexis Fuda improved the Ducks lead to 3-1 with a win at No. 4 singles. Fuda posted a 6-1, 6-2 win over
Maelah Nadeau. Stevens sophomore
Makenna Sargis put the fourth point on the board for the Ducks by beating
Lauren Carr 6-3, 6-2 in the No. 6 position. Nazareth would post a trio of wins to even the match at four apiece. But Earl's heroics would ultimately be the difference as the Ducks clinched their first conference title in program history since joining the Empire 8 in 2007.
Stevens head coach
Steve Gachko commended the team effort and believes that was the difference in today's match. "I'm so proud of our group today in clinching the program's first ever Empire 8 conference title. It was a total team effort, and everyone played an important role in helping us get there." We are excited to build upon this heading into the spring and competing in our first NCAA tournament next May!"
With today's win, the Ducks finished the fall on an eight-match winning streak and improve to 10-1, while the Golden Flyers dropped to 10-2.
E8 Tournament MVP Julia Earl (pictured with Director of Athletics, Russell Rogers)
2018 E8 Women's Tennis Championship Schedule
Friday, October 12
No. 2 Stevens 5, No. 3 St. John Fisher 0
No. 1 Nazareth 5, No. 4 Alfred 0
Saturday, October 13
#2 Stevens 5, #1 Nazareth 4
- Information for this release provided by the athletic communications staff at Stevens -
About the Empire 8 Conference
The members of the Empire 8 are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and aspire to be regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership seeks to distinguish itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the Empire 8.