Women's Tennis Upset By Keuka In NEAC West Division Semifinals
CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. – The No. 2 seeded Wells College women's tennis team was defeated by the No. 3 ranked Storm of Keuka College by a 5-1 margin in the 2014 North Eastern Athletic Conference Women's Tennis West Division Semifinals on Thursday at the Birchwood Tennis Club in Clarks Summit, Pa.
Later in the day, the Storm went on to defeat the Nittany Lions of Penn St.-Berks by a 5-4 score to claim their first NEAC West Division Championship since the 2010-11 women's tennis season. Wells was looking to make their third consecutive appearance in the West Division title game after falling to Penn St.-Berks in the previous two seasons.
Earlier in the season, the Storm picked up an 8-1 victory over Wells on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013 but Wells was able to get revenge via a 6-3 win against Keuka on Wednesday, Apr. 16 of this year. In all-time team history, Wells still holds the 10-9 against Keuka dating back to their first-ever meeting on Apr. 28, 1977.
The Storm captured a 2-1 lead after doubles play as sophomores Kevisha Hunt (Germantown, Md.) and Mizuki Furuta (Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan) were able to edge Savannah Fuller and Melissa Mason at No. 3 doubles by an 8-4 score. The tandem of Emily Knapsack and Nikki Wilkins battled the No. 1 doubles pair from Wells, senior captain Brittany Vanno (Whitesboro, N.Y.) and sophomore Taryn Heath (Truxton, N.Y.), to an 8-6 decision. Heidi Van Buskirk and Chelsea Craine snuck past sophomores Brooke Benedetto (Williamstown, N.Y.) and Miku Kugo (Toyota, Aichi, Japan) by an 8-3 score at No. 2 doubles.
Knapsack knocked off Vanno at No. 1 singles 6-4, 6-3 while Wilkins went on to defeat Kugo by a 6-0, 6-1 score at No. 2 singles. Van Buskirk lost the first set 6-7 (8-10) to Heath at No. 3 singles but went onto post back-to-back 6-4 set scores to power the Storm past Wells. The remaining singles matches were unfinished as Keuka reached five cumulative wins in the match.
The conference's individual tournament will take place on Friday at 8:00 a.m. The individual matches will consist of the top-four seeded student-athletes for first through sixth singles and first through third doubles, where each flight will see the No. 1 seed take on the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed take on the No. 3 seed. The winners will move on to the championship round, while those that lose will be placed into a consolation bracket.
Wells boasts two top-seeded single players as Benedetto and Hunt enter the individual portion of the tournament at No. 4 and No. 5 singles, respectively, after posting strong records against the NEAC teams during the regular season of play.
Benedetto posted a six match winning streak at No. 4 singles before ultimately falling to Alexandra Murionka in a thrilling three set match on Apr. 19 versus Penn St.-Abington. Furthermore, Benedetto and Kugo also racked up a six match winning streak before losing to the Penn St.-Abington duo. Hunt was 4-2 in league play this year and partnered with Furuta at No. 3 doubles to accumulated a 5-1 NEAC record.
Vanno is the third-ranked NEAC player entering play on Friday. Kugo enters as the fourth seeded player at No. 2 singles while Furuta rounds out the individuals from Wells at No. 6 singles in the second slot. Vanno and her No. 1 doubles partner, Heath, are seeded third while Benedetto and Kugo are ranked second at No. 2 doubles. Furuta and Hunt are seeded second at No. 3 doubles.
Wells has boasted an individual NEAC championship in all but No. 1 singles. Most recently, Ayumi Takeuchi won the league's Rookie of the Year honors after claiming the No. 3 singles championship in 2013. Takeuchi went on to partner with Caitlyn Copfer '13 to claim the No. 1 doubles title in the individual portion of the tournament.
