No women’s tennis team in the history of the MEC has ever won a NCAA regional championship and advance to the NCAA Sweet 16. The Yellow Jacket Women’s Tennis Team changed that with a pair of wins over the weekend.
In the first match the Yellow Jackets rolled past the #7 seeded Shaw Bears with a 5-0 win. Then they edged Mercyhurst 5-4 to earn a trip to Arizona, thanks to a gutty 5-4 final singles victory by senior Nina Dillwald.
Against Shaw, the Yellow Jackets won #1 doubles convincingly with NCAA Division II #43 Nina Dillwald and Kierstin Hensley winning 8-3. #3 Doubles of Hanna Kantsavaya and Sydney Miller added an 8-4 win.
#2 doubles of Laura Isbey and Kayla McKnight would grind out a win in a tiebreaker winning 9-8 (7-4).
In singles action the Yellow Jackets would quickly win the match with both Hensley at #2 singles and McKnight at #5 winning in straight sets with each winning 6-2, 6-2.
On Sunday the Yellow Jackets would have a much tighter match against the #3 seed Mercyhurst.
#1 doubles of Dillwald and Hensley would win a tight match 8-3.
#2 doubles and #3 doubles both dropped their matches 8-4.
Trailing 2-1 the Yellow Jackets went into singles with a chip on their shoulders knowing they needed to win at least 4 out of the 6 singles matches.
Hensley once again won for the Yellow Jackets winning #2 singles 6-2, 6-0.
McKnight would add a 6-1, 6-2 win as well.
Isbey would drop her match against the NCAA DII #27 Saioa Gomez De Segura 6-3, 6-3.
Not long after that Kantsavaya dropped her match 6-0, 7-5 to give Mercyhurst a 3-4 advantage.
Freshman Nika Tadic would knot everything up at 4-4 with a 6-3, 7-6 win at #6 singles.
Everything would come down to senior Nina Dillwald’scourt at #3 singles.
Dillwald would trade sets with her opponent with Dillwaldwinning the first 6-4, before dropping the second also by a score of 6-4.
In the third set Dillwald would fall behind 2-3, however her opponent began experiencing severe cramps.
Dillwald, the player who four years ago saved four match points to clinch a MEC Conference championship, would outlast her opponent in the match and win the set 6-3, clinching the team win for the Yellow Jackets 5-4.
The win gives the Yellow Jackets their first NCAA Regional Championship and clinches the team a place in the NCAA Sweet 16 that will take place in Scottsdale, AZ.
The tournament will begin on May 8.
