April 30, 2007
2007 Patriot League Women's Tennis Championship Page
Bethlehem, Pa. - No. 1 Army won its third-straight Patriot League Women's Tennis Championship title with 4-0 victory over No. 3 Bucknell on Monday at Lehigh's Ulrich Tennis Courts. This title is the eighth overall for the Black Knights, who were also winners in 1993, 1999-2001 and 2005-06.
Army, who received a first-round bye, defeated No. 5 Lehigh in the semifinals to advance to the championship round. Bucknell swept No. 6 Holy Cross, 4-0, in the opening round and came out on top in a hard fought 4-3 match against No. 2 Colgate in the semis. Army improves to 15-10 overall, while Bucknell closes out the year with an 8-14 mark.
Army won the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. Niki Flach and Brook Jones teamed up to earned an 8-3 victory at No. 1 doubles over Bucknell's Tania Varela and Ashley Globerman. The other win came at No. 3 doubles with Paige Ford and Kristin Beehler taking an 8-0 set from Caitlin Baffa and Camille Simonetti.
Flach, Jones and Beehler all notched two wins on the day with victories at No. 1, 2 and 4 singles, respectively. Flach defeated Varela, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, while Jones earned a 7-5, 6-1 win over Gamboa. Beehler was victorious over Bucknell's Globerman, 6-2, 6-0.
Flach and Jones received the John "Pat" Rooney award as co-most valuable players of the 2007 Patriot League Tournament. Both Black Knights won four matches at this year's tourney, winning at both singles and doubles against Lehigh and Bucknell.
With the win, Army received the Patriot League's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament pairings will be announced May 1 between 2:30-3 p.m. on ESPNews. First round play will begin either May 11 or 12 at campus sites.
No. 1 Army 4, No. 3 Bucknell 0
Singles
1. Niki Flach, Army def. Tania Varela, Bucknell 6-3, 6-7, 6-3
2. Brook Jones, Army def. Paulina Gamboa, Bucknell 7-5, 6-1
3. Sarah Giles-Madden, Army vs. Carlin Calcaterra, Bucknell 4-6, 6-3, 3-3, DNF
4. Kristin Beehler, Army def. Ashley Globerman, Bucknell 6-2, 6-0
5. Diana Alquero, Army vs. Kirstyn Sotak, Bucknell 6-4, 2-1, DNF
6. Paige Ford, Army vs. Caitlin Baffa, Bucknell 6-0, 1-0, DNF
Doubles
1. Flach/Jones, Army def. Varela/Globerman, Bucknell 8-3
2. Jessica Shurtz/Giles-Madden, Army vs. Gamboa/Calcaterra, Bucknell 7-4
3. Ford/Beehler, Army def. Baffa/Camille Simonetti, Bucknell 8-0
DNF - Did Not Finish
Visit the 2007 Patriot League Women's Tennis Championship page for results and recaps by clicking here.
