BEVERLY, Mass. – Darkness forced a halt to the match-deciding #5 singles match between Endicott women's tennis junior Suzie Newman (Dighton, Mass.) and Nichols freshman Ashley Dallaire (East Bridgewater, Mass.) but when play resumed at the Manchester Athletic Club, Newman finished off her opponent with a second-set tiebreaker win 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) to help the Gulls secure a 5-4 regular season CCC victory over the Bison on Tuesday evening.
Endicott (3-1, 2-0 CCC) has now won their opening two matches of conference play after beating Roger Williams last Saturday, their CCC Semifinal opponent from the last three seasons, and now Nichols, a team they have defeated on the road in each of the last three conference finals matches. The Gulls return to their conference schedule on Thursday, September 11th with a home contest against Babson starting at 3:30 pm.
Nichols (4-2, 1-1 CCC) held a 2-1 advantage after doubles play thanks to gritty performances by their #1 and #2 doubles teams but saw Endicott rally to win four of six singles matches. The Bison will travel to Springfield on Thursday for a 4:00 pm non-conference match with the Pride.
The Bison battled through the top two doubles matches as #1 doubles duo Alanna Judd (Westborough, Mass.) and Lauren Candia (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) won 9-8 (7-4) over Gulls senior Amy Heacox (Marion, Mass.) and reigning CCC Rookie of the Week Dayna Reilly (Swansea, Mass.). Number two teammates Cristina Szepanski (Windsor Locks, Conn.) and Lindsay Benoit (Holden, Mass.) followed by edging Endicott seniors Natalie Egbert (Gorham, Maine) and Chrissy Martel (Westbrook, Conn.) 9-7.
At the #3 doubles position, freshman Maxine Bergstein (Hingham, Mass.) and sophomore Mackenzie Rhodes (Rye, N.H.) finished their match first, winning 8-3 to give Endicott a 1-0 advantage, but Nichols came back to hold a 2-1 lead heading into singles action.
Benoit handled Martel in #3 singles play in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 to push the Bison lead up to 3-1 but the next three singles matches to finish belong to Endicott as Heacox (6-2, 7-5 at #1 singles), junior Brittany Potter (Bedford, N.H., 6-3, 6-2 at #6 singles), and Egbert (7-6 (7-5), 7-5 at #2 singles) brought the Blue and Green back in to gain a 4-3 lead.
The #4 singles match saw Candia rebound from a first set loss to Reilly to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 as Tuesday's CCC match up came down to the #5 singles flight between Newman and Dallaire.
Newman took the first set 6-2, but Dallaire fought back in the second set to force a tiebreaker as darkness crept over the courts. As the match shifted to Manchester Athletic Club, Newman capitalized in the second set tiebreaker by not dropping a single game to win #5 singles 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) and hand Endicott a nail-biting victory.
