#3 Penn State Behrend and #5 Pitt-Greensburg each won their respective matches in the first round of the AMCC women's tennis championship tournament and will advance to the AMCC semifinals to be played next weekend at Westowood Racquet Club in Erie, PA.
The third-seeded Penn State Behrend women's tennis team advanced to the AMCC semifinals with a 5-2 win over six-seeded Pitt-Bradford in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday afternoon.
All tournament matches are played to decision, meaning the first team to win 5 individual matches wins the team match. The Lions (7-5) won two of the three doubles and then won three of the four singles matches for the win. Behrend tallied victories at No. 1 and 2 doubles, and the first three singles.
Seniors Kelly Miller and Celeste Bentley and freshman Marissa Bowles were the double winners on the day. Miller and Bentley won the first match at No. 1 doubles with a score of 8-5. The Panthers (3-8) made it 1-all with an 8-4 victory at No. 3 doubles. Behrend won the final doubles match thanks to Bowles and sophomore Bayleigh Adams, 8-6.
Miller and Bentley made it 4-1 with their singles wins. Miller posted a 6-1, 6-2 decision at No. 2 singles and Bentley was a 6-2, 6-1 winner at No. 3. After Pitt-Bradford sophomore Ashley Stoltz won the No. 4 singles spot at 4-2, Bowles sealed the match with a tiebreaker at first singles (6-2, 2-6, 10-6).
Fifth-seeded Pitt-Greensburg earned the upset victory over fourth-seeded Medaille College in a comeback victory on Sunday afternoon.
It was the Mavericks who got off on the right foot and took care of the Bobcats in the doubles matchups. Medaille freshman Jasmine Mott and junior Colleen Voigt set the tone with an 8-4 victory in opening matchup. To follow their win, senior Danielle Pitasi and freshman Madison Knapp grabbed match number two by the score of 8-3. Capping off the doubles matchups was the pairing of senior Cho Thiri Tun and sophomore Katherine Turner who gave Medaille a 3-0 advantage with an 8-1 victory.
The momentum remained on the side of the Mavs early in the singles matches as Mott won her matchup in straight sets (6-1, 6-1).
With a 4-0 lead Medaille looked to close out the match but Pitt-Greensburg was not willing to go down easy. The Bobcats came roaring back and won the final five singles matchups to walk away with a 5-4 win. They first picked up wins at No. 2, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 as senior Kasey McIntosh rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 win at #2 singles, followed by sophomore Kayla Morrill who earned the team point at #4 singles. Sophomore Rebecca Beaumont claimed another win for the Bobcats with a 6-1, 6-3 straight-set win at #5 singles.
Bobcat senior Emily Frye and her Medaille opponent were locked in a battle at the #3 singles match as the two sides traded sets, with Frye taking the opening set 6-3 and Knapp forcing a third set tie-break with a 6-2 victory in set two. Ultimately, it was the Pitt-Greensburg senior that would come on top in the tiebreak.
It was then sophomore Hannah Sterrett who put together an impressive match and would come out on top, 6-2, 6-4 and complete the come from behind win for Pitt-Greensburg.
The semifinals will begin on Saturday at 3:30pm, with #1 Franciscan University facing Pitt-Greensburg, followed by #2 Penn St. Altoona vs. Penn St. Behrend. The championship match will be Sunday at 12:30p. The tournament winner will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament in May.