WEYMOUTH, Mass.-- A come-from-behind 9-7 win by senior Jen
Nelson (Newburyport, Mass.) and freshman Alex Hernandez (Newton,
Mass.) provided the deciding point at number two doubles that
lifted top-seeded Suffolk to its first-ever Great Northeast
Athletic Conference women’s tennis tournament championship
with a 5-4 dual-match victory over second-seeded Simmons in the
2007 league title match played late Sunday evening at the Weymouth
Club.
Nelson and Hernandez (the 2007 Great Northeast Co-Rookie of the
Year) battled back from a 5-2 deficit to help cap an unbeaten
campaign for the host Rams, who finish the fall at 14-0 overall and
earn the conference’s automatic berth into the 2008 NCAA
Division III Women’s Tennis Championships that will be played
next May. Nelson’s comeback efforts in both singles and
doubles play provided key points for Suffolk, as the 2005 and 2006
Great Northeast Player of the Year overcame a pair of deficits to
post a three-set victory at the number three singles spots.
The visiting Sharks, who entered the contest as the three-time
defending conference tournament champion and finish 11-6 overall,
gained a split of the three singles matches when senior Alex
Yudelevich (Houston, Tex.), the 2007 Great Northeast Player of the
Year, overcame a late third-set deficit to win at number one
singles. Simmons took a 4-3 lead with an 8-2 win at number
three doubles by senior Lauren Faber (Bethany, Conn.) and sophomore
Jordan Borash (Marblehead, Mass.), but Suffolk evened matters when
the tandem of junior Kellie Sturma (Newman, Ga.) and sophomore
Kaitlynn Cates (Middlebury, Conn.) claimed an 8-6 triumph at number
one doubles, setting the stage for the heroics of Nelson and
Hernandez that gave the Rams the title.
Cates and sophomore Catarina Rosa (Fall River, Mass.) joined
Nelson in posting singles wins for Suffolk, which posted its second
victory over Simmons in eight days after ending the Sharks’
37-match Great Northeast winning streak on October 20th with a 6-3
dual-match triumph that gave the Rams the league regular season
crown. Cates and Rosa posted perfect marks for the fall in
singles play, as Cates was 13-0 overall at the number two spot and
Rosa finished 14-0 after notching a three-set win at the number
five position in the title match. Faber and 2007 Co-Great
Northeast Rookie of the Year Maile Macleod (Carlsbad, Calif.)
joined Yudelevich in notching singles wins for Simmons, as Faber
overcame a one-set deficit to defeat Hernandez at the number four
spot.
Sturma, Cates, Yudelevich, Simmons senior Kendra Currier, Johnson
& Wales junior Olivia Molhant and Emerson sophomore Kayleigh
Holt earned first-team all-Great Northeast honors for their play
this fall, while Hernandez, Rosa, Simmons sophomore Dominika
Hudcova, Emmanuel senior Anna Marie Podnecky, Saint Joseph (Conn.)
graduate student Sarah Kowalchuk and Johnson & Wales freshman
Melissa Engel comprised the second-team all-conference squad.
Singles Results
#1 Alex Yudelevich (SIM) def. Kellie Sturma (SUF) 6-4,
4-6, 7-5
#2 Kaitlynn Cates (SUF) def. Kendra Currier (SIM) 6-0,
6-1
#3 Jen Nelson (SUF) def. Dominika Hudcova (SIM) 2-6,
6-3, 7-6
#4 Lauren Faber (SIM) def. Alex Hernandez (SUF) 6-7,
6-4, 6-0
#5 Catarina Rosa (SUF) def. Katy Hallinan (SIM)
2-6, 6-2, 6-2
#6 Maile Macleod (SIM) def. Rachael Troia (SUF)
6-2, 6-1
Doubles Results
#1 Sturma/Cates (SUF) def. Yudelevich/Currier (SIM)
8-6