The Denison women's tennis team avenged a loss from earlier this season with a 5-2 victory over Oberlin in the semifinals of the 2015 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday at the Mitchell Fieldhouse in Granville, Ohio.
With the win, the Big Red advances the finals of the NCAC Tournament to play top-seeded DePauw, who defeated the No. 5 seed Kenyon, at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. In last year's championship match, the Tigers shut out the Big Red, 6-0, to capture their third-consecutive title. On April 12, DePauw doubled up Denison, 6-3, in Granville.
The freshman tandem of Rochell Issa and Courtney Brown improved to 9-4 at No. 2 doubles following an 8-2 victory over Jackie McDermott and Emma Brezel. The Yeowomen were able to tie the match at 1-1 with an 8-4 victory at third doubles. Denison took the edge in doubles play when juniors Taylor Hawkins and Meg Chiumento edged Grace Porter and Sarah Hughes, 8-6 at the top flight. The win was their 10th of the season, all of which have come at No. 1 doubles.
Chiumento extended DU's lead to 3-1 with a straight-set win at third singles. The junior's eighth-straight win and 14th at the flight was a 6-1, 6-1 decision over McDermott. Oberlin shrunk the deficit to one with a victory at the fourth flight.
Denison secured the match victory with wins at the top two singles flights. Brown pulled the Big Red to within a point of the win after earning a three-set victory over Mayada Audeh, who she lost to via retirement on April 9 at Oberlin. After dropping the opening set 7-5, the freshman won back-to-back sets via 6-0 and 6-4 scores. Brown is now 13-5 at second singles.
The match-clinching point came at No. 1 singles where Hawkins improved to 2-0 against Grace Porter with a three-set decision. Much like her freshman teammate, Hawkins dropped the opening set 6-3. After falling behind a set, the junior rebounded with two-straight wins (6-4, 6-1) to earn her sixth-consecutive victory and 12th overall at the top flight.
With the win, the Big Red improves to 15-7, while Oberlin falls to 13-10. Denison rematch with NCAC West rival DePauw is set to begin at 10 a.m.
