It may have taken five years to do so, but the Denison women's tennis team returned to the top of the North Coast Athletic Conference mountain on Sunday afternoon in Granville as they defeated conference rival Kenyon, 5-4, in the championship match of the 2016 NCAC Tournament.
With the victory, the 22nd-ranked Big Red collected their 12th NCAC Championship trophy and their first since the 2011 season.
In a tightly contested match that saw play halted for 30 minutes due to a lightening delay, the 2016 championship match came down to the battle between Denison's Megan Hickey and Kenyon's Samantha Murphy at fourth singles. After winning the opening set 7-5, Hickey held a 5-4 lead in the second. On their third deuce of the point, Hickey gained the advantage when Murphy put her shot into the net. The Big Red freshman secured the program's first NCAC title in five years with a 6-4 win in the set.
The freshmen tandem of Ashley Hammons and Emma Alsup picked up the first point of the match with an 8-4 decision over Grace Winslow and Maggie Sweeney at second doubles. The Ladies evened the score at 1-1 with a No. 3 doubles victory. At the top flight, Lauren Hawley and Meg Chiumento, the Central Region's second-ranked doubles team, extended their current winning streak to seven following an 8-2 win over Alyssa Moreau and Murphy.
Alsup moved the score to 3-1 in favor of the top-seeded Big Red with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Jenna Murray at third singles. Winslow pulled Kenyon to within one following a straight-set win at No. 5 singles. Chiumento, the lone senior in the DU lineup on Sunday, put Denison one point away from the tournament crown with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Sweeney at the second flight.
The Ladies earned points at sixth and first singles to square the match at 4-4, putting all the pressure on Hickey and Murphy.
Denison (14-7) has now won seven straight and nine of their last 10 matches. The Big Red will carry that winning streak into the 2016 NCAA Division III Championships which are scheduled to begin with regional competition on May 12-15 at a site to be determined.
