Concordia Captures Seventh-Consecutive CACC Women's Tennis Title
PHOTO GALLERY OF CACC WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (October 25, 2015) – Concordia College standout Costanza Mecchi continued her spectacular play on Sunday at the 2015 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women’s Tennis Championship, as her win at No. 1 singles clinched the seventh-consecutive team title for the Clippers via a 5-0 defeat of Chestnut Hill College at the CHC Tennis Courts in Philadelphia. That win was part of a 4-0 weekend for Mecchi, as she was also named the most valuable player of the conference championship.
The win propelled the Clippers -- ranked 26th in the nation -- to a 10-0 overall record, as they capped their fall season undefeated and with more conference hardware to add to the trophy case back in Bronxville, N.Y. Chestnut Hill dipped to 9-2 to conclude its otherwise strong fall season.
As was the case in Saturday’s semifinals, Mecchi drew more of the conference’s best in Sunday’s finale. She teamed Demi Huang at No. 1 doubles to knock off Lara Scholtze and Iman Williams-Mulesa (8-3) to put Concordia up 2-0. The win came after the Clipper tandem of Antonia Conze and Kaja Tegtmeier took down CHC counterparts Hayley Craskey and Julia Bellon (8-1) to get things started in favor of Concordia.
Linda Eliasson and Stefanie Canals-Baker wrapped up doubles play for the Clippers with a come-from-behind 8-5 win to sweep that portion from the Griffins.
Needing only two points to lock up yet another conference crown, Concordia wasted no time in picking up its first singles point, which came from Tegtmeier via a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Bellon at No. 6 singles.
Several other matches went back and forth, but Mecchi drew things to a close with her 6-4, 6-1 ousting of fellow All-CACC First-Team Laure-Anne Josso at No. 1 singles.
Mecchi was joined on the CACC All-Tournament Team by her teammates, Eliasson, Huang and Tegtmeier. The Griffins placed a pair on the squad with Williams-Mulesa and Axe Owens. Post University's Liza Dubrovskaya garnered the final spot on the team, as the Eagles gave a spirited effort in a narrow loss to CHC in the semifinals on Saturday.
With the win, Concordia claimed the CACC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament, which will be held in April at a site to be determined.
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician College, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Nyack College, Philadelphia University, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.
2015 CACC WOMEN'S TENNIS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Costanza Mecchi (Concordia)
Linda Eliasson (Concordia)
Demi Huang (Concordia)
Kaja Tegtmeier (Concordia)
Iman Williams-Mulesa (Chestnut Hill)
Axe Owens (Chestnut Hill)
Liza Dubrovskaya (Post)
MVP: Costanza Mecchi (Concordia)