Flushing, N.Y. - On Saturday, the Queens College women's tennis team successfully defended their 2019 East Coast Conference Championship as they shut out the regular season champions St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartans 4-0 inside the QC Tennis Courts.
The Knights (3-1) had split with the Spartans (9-2) during their two regular-season matches with each side winning on the road.
Doubles Competition
The Knights wasted no time in clinching the doubles points as they picked up the wins at the No. 2 and 3 doubles courts to go up 1-0.
The sophomore doubles pair of Gabriela Sciarotta (Woodmere, N.Y.) / Aleksandra Caricic (New York, N.Y.) continued their winning way at the No. 3 doubles court as they dispatched the Spartans duo of Karina Blas / Eliza Mulder to the score of 6-3.
The Knights No. 2 doubles duo of sophomore Lilly Schmidt (Montabaur, Germany) / junior Nathalie Ulander (Stockholm, Sweden) would clinch the doubles points with a 6-2 victory over Spartans Jemima Parkinson / Ayesha Burnet.
Singles Competition
Leading 1-0 and needing three singles matches to repeat as conference champions, the Knights stayed on task.
The ECC Preseason Player of the Year and 2019-20 ITA All-American Maja Makal (Bialystok, Poland) quickly put the Knights up 2-0 as she defeated Blas in straight sets to the score of 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 1 singles slot to continue her undefeated streak on the season.
At the No. 4 singles spot Sciarotta found herself trailing 4-1 in the first set but stayed composed through the match as she rallied back to win the first win set 7-5 against Parkinson. With her confidence riding high, the Woodmere native got into cruise control as she made quick work of Parkinson to put the Knights in a commanding 3-0 lead with a 6-2 second set victory.
Needing one more match to clinch their second straight conference title, the Knights No.2 singles player Ulander won the first set 6-4 against Pavlovets. But Pavlovets took the match into the third set with a 6-2 second set victory. Ulander quickly went up 3-0 in the tiebreaker before Pavlovets cut the deficit down to 3-2. But the Sweden native would book the Knights ticket to next week NCAA Championships with a 6-2 third set victory setting off a huge celebration inside the QC Tennis courts.
Postgame Comments
Head Coach Alan Nagel: I'm so proud of my team! They have a never quit attitude but nothing could keep them down. They all played their hearts out and left everything on the court in what the whole team felt was a must-win situation. NCAA here we come!
Sophomore Gabriela Sciarotta: After a tough loss last weekend we were all pumped up and ready to play our hearts out. We all wanted to win and it showed on the courts today. We are so excited and happy to be back-to-back ECC champions!!
Junior Nathalie Ulander: Everyone went out on court today with the best possible attitude. We were going to get the win No matter how long We had to stay on the court. I am so proud and happy to be part of this amazing, hard-working team.
With the automatic bid clinched virtue of the conference championship, the Knights will now await their next opponent as the field for the DII women's tennis championship will be announced on Tuesday (May 4) at 8:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.
Provided by the Queens Sports Information Department.
