INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Rose-Hulman won three of four singles matches Friday and two of three in doubles play to upend Transylvania 5-2 in the championship match of the Heartland Conference Women's Tennis Tournament at the West Indy Racquet Club.
Top-seeded Rose-Hulman toppped No. 4 Manchester 5-1 Friday in one semifinal match while the Pioneers blanked Franklin, 5-0. The top four teams in the HCAC standings squared off with the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament next May at stake.
The Pioneers, who finished behind Rose-Hulman this season with a 7-1 record, won the tournament and the post-season spot last year. It was the first NCAA tourney berth in the history of the program.
In the Franklin win, Transy swept all three doubles matches and went on to a 5-0 win. Transy's No. 1 doubles team of Kelsey Fulkerson (Lexington, Ky.) andSarah Ridley (Henderson, Ky.) beted Morgan Bright and Kayli Schafer by a 9-7 margin to set the stage for the sweep. Katie Boone (Lancaster, Ohio) and Stephanie Townsend (Goshen, Ky.) teamed at No. 2 doubles for an 8-4 win before Kaitlyn Hizny (Owensboro, Ky.) and Abby Newcom (Owensboro, Ky.) combined for an 8-6 decision over Rain Tuley and Adrian Gillaspy in the No. 3 position.
Needing just two more points from the singles competition to advance to the HCAC Tourney finals, Fulkerson, the reining HCAC Player of the Year, topped Bright, 6-0, 6-1. Playing in the No. 5 spot, Hizny closed out the match with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Tuley.
In the finals match, Fulkerson figured into both of the Pioneers' wins. In No. 1 doubles, she again combined with Ridley for an 8-6 win over Megan Chann and Marie Stettler. In No. 1 singles, Fulkerson defeated Chann, 6-0, 6-0.
Boone and Townsend lost at No. 2 doubles, 8-5, and Hizny and Newcom dropped the No. 3 match, also by an 8-5 count.
Boone lost a tight contest to Sage Sackett, 7-6 (2), 6-1 at No. 2 singles before Ridley fell 6-4, 6-4 to Stettler in the No. 3 position. Klara Schroederus defeated Victoria Haugli 6-4, 6-1 in the No. 6 sport for the fifth point.
