BOSTON, Mass.—Sophomore Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) won the singles crown and juniors Kelsey Shea (West Bridgewater, Mass.) and Vicky Woytowicz (Springfield, Mass.) teamed up for the doubles title, to help UMass Boston earn the overall crown of 2nd Annual Beacons Invite Champions.
THE BASICS
- UMass Boston 6 points
- Johnson & Wales University 5.5 points
- Eastern Nazarene College 3.5 points
- Wentworth Institute of Technology 2 points
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite not playing a match since late October, UMass Boston women's tennis came out looking sharp in one of two scheduled matches in the spring.
Each team earned one point for a victory in the main draw, and .5 points for wins in the consolation bracket.
Garcia battled through a pair of lengthy singles match to earn the overall singles crown.
She opened with a 6-3, 6-1 quarterfinal victory over Johnson & Wales Lauren Torre. In the semifinals, Garcia overcame Eastern Nazarene's Adele Duval 6-2, 7-6, with a 7-1 tiebreaker victory.
In the finals, Johnson & Wales Morgan Thompson took the first set 6-4, to put Garcia's back against the wall. Unfazed by the deficit, Garcia won the second set 6-3 and then took a third set super tiebreaker 10-6 to earn the hardware.
Senior Logan Smith (Southwick, Mass.) took a pair of losses in her two singles matches. The senior captain fell 6-4, 6-2 to Wentworth's Caitlyn Briggs and then dropped a 6-1, 6-3 match to the consolation bracket champion Lindsey Steelman.
On the doubles side, Shea and Woytowicz continued their strong run together this season.
The pair took their first match 8-3, with a win over Wentworth's Mackenzie Jones and Rina Rivera Vargas. In the semifinals, they grabbed another 8-3 decision, this time over Johnson & Wales's Eliana Aponte and Bridget Bertone.
Faced with a red-hot Johnson & Wales side in the finals, Shea and Woytowicz clinched the title with an 8-6 win over Samantha Gambino and Delaney Macchirole.
The Beacons second pair of Nurcin Celebi (Istanbul, Turkey) and Meghan Erickson (Hubbardston, Mass.) played a pair of tight matches.
In the quarterfinal round, the Beacons forced a tiebreaker, but fell 9-8 (10-3) to Wentworth's Ellen Butts and Kelsey DeGouveia. The Beacons pair then fell 8-3 to consolation bracket champions Tress Burrello and Jordan Cressman of Eastern Nazarene College.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston joins Regis College as the only two schools to have won the Beacons Invite
- The Beacons are the first school to have champions in both the singles and doubles in the same season. Last year, Wentworth won the singles bracket, while Regis College took the doubles crown.
- With her three victories, Garcia improved to 8-8 in singles play this season and 15-14 overall. Through two seasons, Garcia has 30 career wins.
- Shea and Woytowicz pushed their record over .500 for the season with their three wins. The pairing end the year with a team-best 9-7 mark, as they only played with each other all season long.
WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will await to see if an earlier postponed spring match is rescheduled, otherwise their 2015-16 season has been completed.
