Over the weekend, the No. 1-ranked Holy Cross women’s tennis team took home its third NAIA Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Championship title, marching through the competition by taking three straight wins.
In the semifinals on Wednesday, April 23, the Saints took a 4-0 win over the No. 4-ranked St. Francis. Two days later, the Saints took to the championship and claimed a 5-0 win over No. 2-ranked Olivet Nazarene. Earlier in the season, Holy Cross similarly secured a 5-0 win over Olivet Nazarene.
With this championship win, the Saints improve to 8-5 overall.
Doubles
The Saints took the doubles point to take an early lead over Olivet Nazarene. On the No. 1 court, junior pairing Leah Gonzales-Edwards and Victoria Savvidou took a 6-1 win over Natasha Nieto and Rafaela Luna. On the No. 2 court, sophomore Nicole Martinez and freshman Sofia Rocha took a 6-1 win over Chieh-Yu Chen and Savannah Amatyleon. Finishing off on the No. 3 court, freshmen Emery Porter and Maren Woelfer took a 6-0 win over Olivia Bonnivier and Jori Lambert.
Singles
The Saints continued to dominate on the singles courts as Savvidou took a 6-2, 6-0 win over Nieto to bring the Saints ahead 2-0. Following on the No. 4 court, Gonzales-Edwards took a 6-0, 6-0 win over Amatyleon. On the No. 5 court, Rocha swept the match, taking a 6-0, 6-0 win over Lambert, bringing the score to 4-0.
Sophomore Jamison Geofferys took a 6-2, 5-1 win over Chen on the No. 2 court to gain the fifth point for the Saints. Martinez took a 6-1, 2-1 win on the No. 3 court, and sophomore Anna Vanderhyde took a 6-1, 5-0 win on the No. 6 court.
With this championship title, the Saints’ young but dominant team now looks to prepare for the NAIA National Championships. The championships will begin on May 13. The championships schedule has not yet been released.
