Women's Tennis 5/7/2016 8:00:00 PM

Jays repeat as Landmark Champions, win seventh conference title in a row!

Results

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Third-seeded Juniata pushed the top-seeded Elizabethtown College women's tennis team to the limit in the 2016 Landmark Championship Saturday at the Alumni Courts. The match came down to second singles, where junior Madison McCall's comeback win carried the Blue Jays to a 5-4 victory for their second straight Landmark title and seventh consecutive conference championship since 2010.

McCall and freshman Meghan Chemidlin overcame first set losses to emerge with points in must-win matches for the Blue Jays.

Chemidlin, playing fifth singles, got stronger the longer her match with Mitsuki Koh went. The Stewartsville, N.J., native recovered from a 2-6 setback in the first to win the second 6-4. Chemidlin dominated the third, blanking Koh 6-0, and tying the match at four.

That put the focus squarely on McCall, who moved to No. 2 in the Blue Jays' (15-3) lineup late in the regular season. McCall went toe-to-toe with Rachel Yurchisin in a match that also went the distance. In the third and deciding set, McCall came from 4-3 down to win three straight for the championship. After tying the set at four, the Blue Jays' 10th all-time winningest singles player broke Yurchisin's serve with some heart-stopping points.

Yurchisin got to advantage twice, but could not put McCall away. The Eagles' (11-9) former All-Landmark Second Team pick emptied the tank trying to break McCall, lunging in vain to reach the shot that put McCall ahead 5-4. A composed McCall then held serve to fend off Yurchisin 6-4 and secure Elizabethtown's back-to-back Landmark championships.

McCall tied Kaitlyn Pellegrino '15 for 10th on the program's career singles wins list with her 45th (45-20) and Elizabethtown locked up its fourth 15-plus win season in the last five years.

Juniata, making its first Landmark championship match appearance after Tuesday's 5-3 upset of No. 2 seed Scranton, took an early lead behind an 8-2 win from Lauren Lucas and Nora Tsai at third doubles. Lucas and Tsai, two of the Eagles' top three singles players, ran their record to 8-0 on the season.

11967 — Madison McCall was named
Landmark Championship MVP after
winning the deciding match Saturday.
McCall was also MVP of the 2014
Commonwealth Conference Championships.

The Blue Jays would mirror their 5-4 regular season win over the Eagles, winning the exact same matches, which included first and second doubles, and second, fourth and fifth singles.

Juniata's quick advantage was short-lived. Taylor Helsel and McCall powered past Yurchisin and Katharine Conklin, 8-0, at first doubles for their conference-leading 14th win (14-3). Lauren Berry and Sam Procak extended their winning streak to 11 matches with an 8-5 decision over Koh and Tori Gray at second doubles to put the Jays in front as the match shifted to singles.

Procak had no problem extending E-town's lead to 3-1, as she rolled over Conklin 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4. The sophomore from Newark, Del., collected her 20th career win (11th in a row) and improved to 14-3 overall in 2016.

The Eagles used three straight wins from Gray (No. 6), Lucas (No. 1) and Tsai (No. 3) to recapture the lead, 4-3, before the Blue and Gray closed out the title match with wins at No. 5 and No. 2.

McCall's win at second singles earned her championship Most Valuable Player honors. She was also MVP of the 2014 Commonwealth Conference Championships. Elizabethtown increased its record to 10-2 in conference championship matches under current head coach Matt Helsel, who has guided the Jays to 12 consecutive league championship matches and 10 conference crowns (2004, 2005-06, 2007-08, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16). The Blue Jays also won a pair of Middle Atlantic Conference championships in 1993 and 1995.

Elizabethtown will take part in its seventh straight NCAA Division III Tournament and eighth in program history after earning the Landmark's automatic berth Saturday. The Blue Jays will learn where, and against whom, they'll be playing when the NCAA releases the tournament field at NCAA.com Monday.

Elizabethtown 5, Juniata 4
May 7, 2016 at Elizabethtown, Pa. (Alumni Courts)

Singles competition

1. Lauren Lucas (JUN) def. Taylor Helsel (ETOWN) 6-3, 6-2

2. Madison McCall (ETOWN) def. Rachel Yurchisin (JUN) 4-6, 6-2, 6-4

3. Nora Tsai (JUN) def. Lauren Berry (ETOWN) 6-3, 6-3

4. Sam Procak (ETOWN) def. Katharine Conklin (JUN) 6-0, 6-3

5. Meghan Chemidlin (ETOWN) def. Mitsuki Koh (JUN) 2-6, 6-4, 6-0

6. Tori Gray (JUN) def. Laura Gribble (ETOWN) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. Taylor Helsel/Madison McCall (ETOWN) def. Rachel Yurchisin/Katharine Conklin (JUN) 8-0

2. Lauren Berry/Sam Procak (ETOWN) def. Mitsuki Koh/Tori Gray (JUN) 8-5

3. Lauren Lucas/Nora Tsai (JUN) def. Meghan Chemidlin/Laura Gribble (ETOWN) 8-2

Match Notes

Juniata 11-9

Elizabethtown 15-3

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,6,1,3,5,2)

Landmark Conference Championship

(1) Elizabethtown vs. (3) Juniata

E-town wins second straight Landmark title and seventh conference title in a row

Tournament MVP: Madison McCall (Elizabethtown)

Official: Russ Morgan T-3:52 A-57

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Players Mentioned

Kaitlyn Pellegrino: 5' 7"; Senior

Lauren Berry: 5' 1"; Senior

Taylor Helsel: 5' 4"; Junior

Madison McCall: 5' 2"; Junior

Sam Procak: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Meghan Chemidlin: 5' 3"; Freshman

Laura Gribble: 5' 3"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Kaitlyn Pellegrino
: 5' 7"; Senior

Lauren Berry
: 5' 1"; Senior

Taylor Helsel
: 5' 4"; Junior

Madison McCall
: 5' 2"; Junior

Sam Procak
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Meghan Chemidlin
: 5' 3"; Freshman

Laura Gribble
: 5' 3"; Freshman