Women's Tennis 5/3/2017 10:30:00 PM

Women's tennis moves on to Landmark Championship

Results

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- Elizabethtown will defend its Landmark Conference title for a third straight season after dispatching Moravian, 5-2, in a semifinal match at the Alumni Courts Wednesday afternoon.

The third-seeded Blue Jays got even better news when fourth-seeded Scranton upset top-seeded Drew in the other semifinal, setting up an unexpected home match against the Royals, Saturday.

For the second time in as many meetings with the Greyhounds this season, Elizabethtown (12-4) swept doubles to seize control of the match.

It wasn't a walk in the park, however. The Jays trailed in all three flights before coming back to win each. The third doubles team of Amber Burd and Laura Gribble were down 4-0, but won eight of the next nine games to pull out an 8-5 victory.

Taylor Helsel and Madison McCall followed with an 8-5 win over Moravian's Brittney Eady and Skylar Oliwa.

The Blue Jays captured the crucial third point with Meghan Chemidlin and Lenea Riehl winning 9-7 over Eiman Nazif and Lauren Steinert.

Elizabethtown's task was clear in singles: win two matches and move on.

Riehl made that reality all the more clear with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Steinert at No. 4.

The Greyhounds (10-7) were able to get a pair of points with victories by Eady at No. 1 and Grace Bailly at No. 6.

However, seconds after Bailly's win, Elizabethtown clinched the match on Burd's 6-3, 6-2 win over Kate Rennar.

Singles matches for McCall and Chemidlin both went unfinished, though McCall nearly secured the final point at No. 2 singles before Oliwa tied the second set at five games apiece.

The Blue Jays and Royals will meet Saturday at 1 p.m., in a rematch of the 2015 Landmark Championship. Not only did the Royals upset the top seed, they halted Drew's 14-match winning streak in the process. E-town and Scranton have combined to win the last five Landmark titles going back to 2012.

Elizabethtown 5, Moravian 2
May 3, 2017 at Elizabethtown, Pa. (Alumni Courts)

Singles competition

1. Brittney Eady (MOR) def. Taylor Helsel (ETOWN) 6-1, 6-1

2. Madison McCall (ETOWN) vs. Skylar Oliwa (MOR) 6-2, 5-5, unfinished

3. Meghan Chemidlin (ETOWN) vs. Eiman Nazif (MOR) 0-6, 4-5, unfinished

4. Lenea Riehl (ETOWN) def. Lauren Steinert (MOR) 6-3, 6-1

5. Amber Burd (ETOWN) def. Kate Rennar (MOR) 6-3, 6-2

6. Grace Bailly (MOR) def. Laura Gribble (ETOWN) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles competition

1. Taylor Helsel/Madison McCall (ETOWN) def. Brittney Eady/Skylar Oliwa (MOR) 8-5

2. Meghan Chemidlin/Lenea Riehl (ETOWN) def. Eiman Nazif/Lauren Steinert (MOR) 9-7

3. Amber Burd/Laura Gribble (ETOWN) def. Kate Rennar/Emily Snyder (MOR) 8-5

Match Notes

Moravian 10-7

Elizabethtown 12-4

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

Landmark Conference Semifinals

(2) Elizabethtown vs. (3) Moravian

E-town advances to Saturday's Landmark Championship against (4) Scranton

Official: Fred LaDonne T-2:43 A-50

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Players Mentioned

Amber Burd: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Meghan Chemidlin: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Laura Gribble: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Taylor Helsel: 5' 4"; Senior

Madison McCall: 5' 2"; Senior

Lenea Riehl: 5' 5"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Amber Burd
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Meghan Chemidlin
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Laura Gribble
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Taylor Helsel
: 5' 4"; Senior

Madison McCall
: 5' 2"; Senior

Lenea Riehl
: 5' 5"; Freshman