CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. – The Penn State Berks Nittany Lions captured their second straight North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Women’s Tennis West Division* championship and avenged their only divisional loss of the regular season after defeating Penn State Abington in a thrilling 5-4 final Thursday. 

Berks (8-8 overall) claimed the divisional title for the fifth time in the past seven seasons following Thursday’s final, which was held at the Birchwood Tennis Club in Clarks Summit, Pa.  The Nittany Lions will now move on to battle the NEAC East Division* tournament champion Colby-Sawyer College on May 8 at the Tri-City Tennis Club in Latham, N.Y.  The winner of that match will be crowned the conference champion and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.    

Berks, seeded second in the four-team tournament, took an early 2-1 lead following doubles play to begin the rematch of last year’s championship.  The Berks duo of senior Cassidy Schultz (Reading, Pa.) and junior Erin Ginther (Collegeville, Pa.) picked up an 8-4 win in third doubles over sophomore Gabrielle Eberhardt (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and junior Madison Kimball (Jenkintown, Pa.), before sophomore Marje Robinson (Reading, Pa.) and freshman Tanya White (Shillington, Pa.) won a 9-7 battle over sophomore Amanda Shulski (Penndel, Pa.) and junior Janie Saile (Huntington Valley, Pa.) in second doubles.  The Abington duo of junior Honora Hegarty (Abington, Pa.) and senior Sheena Philip (Philadelphia, Pa.) defeated Berks freshmen Kianna Anderson (New Holland, Pa.) and Caroline Bashore (Hamburg, Pa.) 8-4 in first doubles. 

Hegarty then claimed a 6-2, 6-0 win in first singles over Anderson to tie the match at 2-2.  It would remain even from there, as Shulski defeated Robinson 6-2, 6-3 in second singles while Eberhardt came back to defeat White 2-6, 6-0, 6-0 in third singles for two Abington points.  Berks would match with Bashore defeating junior Honestee Sphabmixay (Holland, Mich.) 6-3, 6-1 in fourth singles and Schultz sweeping sophomore Sally Phung (Philadelphia, Pa.) 6-0, 6-0 in fifth singles.  That would leave the match to be decided in the sixth flight between Abington’s Kimball and Berk’s Ginther. 

Ginther would grab the first set by a score of 6-4, but Kimball evened the match with a 6-1 win in the second set. Kimball carried that momentum into the decisive third set by jumping out to a 5-2 lead, but Ginther would rally by reeling off five straight games to win 7-5 and seal the title for Berks.

Abington, the regular season divisional champions for the second straight year, finished the season 13-4 overall.   

 A recap of yesterday’s semifinal round can be viewed here. 

Following the team championship, the doubles portion of the individual tournament was held, with those results being available here.  The action will pick back up tomorrow with the singles tournament beginning at 10 am at Birchwood. 

The individual tournament consists of the top-four seeded student-athletes for first through sixth singles and first through third doubles, where each flight will see the No. 1 seed take on the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed take on the No. 3 seed.  The winners will move on to the championship round, while those that lose will be placed into a consolation bracket.    

The championship round will then produce six singles position champions and three doubles position champions, with those student-athletes also making up the All-Conference First Team.  The runners-up from those flights will make up the All-Conference Second Team, while the All-Conference Third Team will consist of the winners of each flight from the consolation bracket.   

The all-conference teams will all be recognized with an awards ceremony shortly following the conclusion of the singles tournament Friday.  The individual seeding breakdown can be found here. 

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has fourteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Morrisville State College, SUNY Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Penn State Altoona (M Volleyball) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf).  The North Eastern Athletic Conference has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of men’s and women’s tennis.

*Beginning with the 2010 season, the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) in the sport of men’s and women’s tennis.  The NEAC will compete as associate members of the NAC in men’s tennis, while the NAC will compete as associate members of the NEAC in women’s tennis.  Members from each conference will be divided into an East and West Division for each sport, with each division holding a championship and the two divisional champions then facing off to determine the conference champion. The conference winner for each sport will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championships. 

A complete breakdown of the NEAC/NAC tennis partnership is as follows:

Men's Tennis: NEAC members Bryn Athyn, Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Penn College, Penn State Abington and Penn State Berks will play as associate members of the NAC in a West Division.  The East Division will consist of NAC members Castleton, Colby-Sawyer, Green Mountain, Johnson State, Lyndon State, MCLA and Thomas.

Women's Tennis: NAC members Castleton, Colby-Sawyer, Green Mountain, Johnson State, Lyndon State, MCLA and Thomas will play in the NEAC as associate members in the East Division.  The West Division will consist of NEAC members Bryn Athyn, College of St. Elizabeth, Keuka, Lancaster Bible, Penn College, Penn State Abington, Penn State Berks and Wells.