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SALVE REGINA UNIVERSITY SEAHAWKS
Posted: Sep 14, 2014

Chargers gain title from three-way tie in Grass Court Doubles

Seahawk seniors playing in their final Grass Court Doubles Championships at the Tennis Hall of Fame (l to r): Meg Olson, Anastasia Lara, Hayley Maxwell, Elizabeth DiFilippo
Seahawk seniors playing in their final Grass Court Doubles Championships at the Tennis Hall of Fame (l to r): Meg Olson, Anastasia Lara, Hayley Maxwell, Elizabeth DiFilippo

NEWPORT, R.I. - Every year the tournament director says, "How do we break ties?" Never has there been a three-way tie at the Grass Court Doubles Championships until this year. Colby-Sawyer, Holy Cross, and Nichols finished the day with 12 points apiece and each had claimed a flight championship. The Chargers claimed the team title with their 3-2 record in head-to-head matches with the Crusaders and Bison.

It was the second title for Colby-Sawyer and first since 1996. Salve Regina University hosted the 30th edition of the Grass Court Doubles Championships at the Tennis Hall of Fame.

Defending champion Holy Cross earned the runner-up trophy today with its 1-0 mark in head-to-head match with Nichols. The Bison, playing in their first Grass Court Championships, captured the Flight B championship with their No. 2 duo of Lindsay Benoit and Cristina Szepanski defeating Chargers' Oxana Tkachenko and Samantha White, 8-1.

Colby-Sawyer's top pair of Ashlyn Ramsay and Ashley Woodside earned an 8-3 victory in the Flight A championship over Holy Cross tandem Jaclyn Carroll and Taylor Stathis.

The final match of the day was the Flight C final between Holy Cross' Izzy Bagi / Cassy Deng and Nichols' Ashley Dallaire / Daniela Saldarriaga. A Bison victory would give the first-time participants the team championship outright, and a Crusader triumph would create a three-way deadlock.

Bagi and Deng rallied from down 4-3 to score an 8-5 win.

The tournament used eight courts on the Newport Casino facility, including Stadium Court and the Horseshoe Court. The 30th edition also featured live streaming with over five hours of video coverage. Former tennis coach and athletic director Paul Cardoza established the Grass Court Doubles Championships in 1984; twice the event has been rained out (1992, 2008).

Originally scheduled for Saturday, September 13, the tournament moved to Sunday with the forecast of late afternoon rain. The move resulted in perfect conditions on the historic grass courts.

Salve Regina plans to host a variation on the event in the 31st edition next year - combining men's and women's teams to include mixed doubles.

Team Scores

  1. Colby-Sawyer (12) – champion
  2. Holy Cross (12) – runner-up
  3. Nichols (12)
  4. Bridgewater State (6)
  5. Salve Regina (4)
  6. UMass Dartmouth (2)
  7. Curry (0)

Flight Championships

[A] CSC Ashlyn Ramsay/Ashley Woodside def. HC Jaclyn Carroll/Taylor Stathis, 8-3
[B] NC Lindsay Benoit/Cristina Szepanski def. CSC Oxana Tkachenko/Sam White, 8-1
[C] HC Izzy Bagi/Cassy Deng def. NC Ashley Dallaire/Daniela Saldarriaga, 8-5

The Seahawks had nine players competing in the 2014 event - Taylor Amendola, Courtney Bailey, Elizabeth DiFilippo, Julie Grant, Emma Gruber, Anastasia Lara, Meg Olson, Kasey Walther, and Isabelle Weatherby.