WILMINGTON, Del. - - It was unlike any of its previous four, but the Wilmington University women's tennis team claimed its fifth consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship on Sunday, coming back to defeat top-seeded Jefferson, 4-2, at the Delcastle Tennis Center.
In the previous four seasons, the Wildcats went into singles play with the lead, but this year, the Rams jumped on the Wildcats in doubles play. The Wildcats then won four of the first five singles matches, celebrating on Court 2 with their fifth straight CACC title.
Jefferson quickly put the pressure on the Wildcats, winning 6-0 at No. 2 doubles. No. 1 and No. 3 doubles went back and forth until the Rams' No. 1 tandem took over. Tied 4-4, the Rams won the final two games to take the match, 6-4, and the doubles point for the Rams.
But the Wildcats regrouped in singles play with Molly Carlberg, Ming-Fu Chen, Gloria Barcaro, and Elena Camacho all winning their first sets. Molly Carlberg kept rolling into her second set, winning 6-2 and 6-3 at No. 3 to tie the match, 1-1.
Ming-Fu Chen was in a tight first set at No. 4, but then rolled through her second set, winning 7-5 and 6-0 to give the Wildcats a 2-1 lead.
One of the most impressive victories of the weekend came at No. 1 singles and CACC Co-Player of the Year Siana MacDonald. She dropped the first set, 6-1, to CACC Rookie of the Year Anouk Oderkerk, but then rallied for an impressive win. She won the second set, 6-1, and then continued to roll in the third set, winning 6-1 again to give the Wildcats a 3-1 match lead.
Gloria Barcaro won her first set, 6-4, at No. 5 singles, but the Rams' Marta Vazquez battled back sending the match into a third set with a 6-4 win in set two, and then clinched the match, 6-3. The win brought the Rams to within 3-2.
Liza Sylka dropped her first set at No. 2, 6-3, and found herself down 4-1 in the second set. But she didn't quit, fighting back to eventually tie the second set, 5-5, and again at 6-6 to send the set into a tiebreak. CACC Co-Player of the Year Alycia Veroux scored the first three points of the tiebreak, but Sylka continued to battle, tying the tiebreak at 3-3, and again at 5-5. The student-athletes traded points until 8-8, and then a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct turned into a defaulted match by Veroux, awarding the game to Sylka, and the Championship to the Wildcats, 4-2.
Elena Camacho won her first set at No. 6 singles, 6-3, but dropped a second set tiebreaker, 7-6 (7-1), to force a third set. Camacho was leading the third set, 3-1, when championship point was made on Court 2.
Siana MacDonald was voted the CACC Tournament MVP while joined by Liza Sylka, Molly Carlberg, and Ming-Fu Chen on the All-Tournament Team for their play in both matches this weekend.
It is the fifth straight CACC Tournament Championship for the Wildcats and the fourth time they needed to defeat the Rams to hoist the trophy. The Wildcats earn the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA East Regional Tournament, which will be conducted in May.
