WEST CHESTER, PA.- The West Chester women's tennis team (9-10) opened its postseason with a PSAC quarterfinal victory over rival Bloomsburg (13-9) on South Campus on Tuesday afternoon. West Chester jumped out to an early lead with a victory in doubles action before winning three singles matches to earn the 4-0 victory. West Chester took control of the doubles contest before excelling in the singles field for a 4-0 win.
Pairs Ashleigh Grooms (Newport, Ky/The Summit Country Day School) / Sohana Thompson(Fairfield, OH/The Seven Hills School) and Delaney Tingle (Charlotte, N.C./Palm Desert High) / Tori Alexander (Norristown, PA/Spring-Ford) gave the Golden Rams the lead that they were looking for early by clinching the all-important doubles point.
Grooms would become the first Golden Ram to complete their match with a convincing 6-1,6-2 win giving the hosts a 2-0 lead. Bloomsburg kept its hopes alive as they would take a set lead at second and fifth singles. However, Gabriella Lerario dos Santos (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Dante Alighieri) went on to win her match 6-1,6-4 putting West Chester one point away from a PSAC semifinal berth. Tingle closed out the match with a 7-5, 7-5 victory in first singles to send West Chester back to the PSAC Semifinals for the 10th year in a row and 11th time in head coach Tina Tharp's tenure at the helm.
Doubles:
Delaney Tingle / Tori Alexander (WCU) def. Nicole Ilkovic / Lexi Quackenbush (BU) 6-3
Amber Nguyen / Gabriella Lerario dos Santos (WCU) vs. Dasha Nakonechna / Lia-Sophie Steele (BU) UNFINISHED
Sohana Thompson / Ashleigh Grooms (WCU) def. Alyssa Mazurek / Jen McDonald (BU) 6-2
Singles:
Delaney Tingle (WCU) def. Lexi Quackenbush (BU) 7-5 7-5
Nicole Ilkovic (BU) led. Tori Alexander (WCU) 7-6 UNFINISHED
Ashleigh Grooms (WCU) def. Dasha Nakonechna (BU) 6-1 6-2
Yuno Oe (WCU) led. Lia-Sophie Steele (BU) 6-4 UNFINISHED
Jen McDonald (BU) led. Felicia Manful (WCU) 6-2 UNFINISHED
Gabriella Lerario dos Santos (WCU) def. Alyssa Mazurek (BU) 6-1 6-4
Up Next:
West Chester will travel to Bloomsburg to compete in the PSAC semifinals against IUP on Friday afternoon beginning at 1 p.m.
