PSAC singles champions Ricky Dove of Bloomsburg (left) and Anna Pieschl of California (right).
Individuals from California, Bloomsburg and Millersville Claim Titles at PSAC Individual Tennis Championships
Final Brackets
California once again ruled the women's brackets as top-seeded Anna Pieschl captured the singles championship and teammed up with Jade Pondicas to win the doubles title. On the men's side, this year's champions are from different schools than last year as Bloomsburg's Ricky Dove won the singles title and Millersville's Preetham Moras and Drew Slocum captured the doubles title.
Pieschl defeated No. 2 seed Sarah Lynch in the championship match in straight sets to win the women's singles title. Both of the top seeds had advanced to the title match by winning in straight sets in their semifinal matches, dropping just one game between the two of them.
In women's doubles, IUP's team of Katie Eaton and Emilia Osborne upset No. 2 seeded Kim Ezzo and Caroline Bristol of Mercyhurst in the semifinals, winning a tiebreaker by a 7-1 score for the 9-8 win. California's Pieschl and Pondicas had trouble with Slippery Rock's Lynch and Dunja Drmac in their semifinal before prevailing by an 8-6 score. The Vulcan duo then won by an 8-4 score in the championship match.
Dove topped his teammate Mark Schroeder in the men's singles semifinals, 6-2, 7-5. Top seed Keith Whittingham of Mercyhurst needed a tiebreaker in the first set to top Millersville's Moras in the semifinal before winning in straight sets, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2. Dove then upset the top-seeded Whittingham in the final in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Moras and Slocum prevailed in the men's doubles championship match, topping Dove and Schroeder 8-5. For Slocum, this championship comes a year after he was part of the runner-up doubles team at the championships last year.
Women's Singles
Semifinals - Anna Pieschl (Cal) def. Tabtip Louhabanjong (IUP), 6-0, 6-0
- Sarah Lynch (SRU) def. Michele Perez (Bloom), 6-0, 6-1
Championship - Pieschl def. Lynch, 6-2, 6-2
Women's Doubles
Semifinals - Pondicas/Pieschl (Cal) def. Lynch/Drmac (SRU), 8-6
- Eaton/Osborne (IUP) def. Ezzo/Bristol (MC), 9-8 (7-1)
Championship - Pondicas/Pieschl def. Eaton/Osborne, 8-4
Men's Singles
Semifinals - Keith Whittingham (MC) def. Preetham Moras (Mill), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
- Ricky Dove (Bloom) def. Mark Schroeder (Bloom), 6-2, 7-5
Championship - Dove def. Whittingham, 6-2, 6-2
Men's Doubles
Semifinals - Moras/Slocum (Mill) def. Dove/Schroeder (Bloom), 8-5
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Updated Brackets
Four of the top six seeds were knocked out early in the women's singles draw, however the top two seeds advanced to the semifinals. Anna Pieschl of California, the top seed, will face unseeded Tabtip Louhabanjong of IUP, who knocked off the No. 4 seed Kim Ezzo of Mercyhurst in the quarterfinals. In the other semifinal match, No. 2 seed Sarah Lynch of Slippery Rock will face unseeded Michele Perez of Bloomsburg, who knocked off No. 3 seed Axelle Fernandez of California in the quarters.
Women's Singles Semifinals
(1) Anna Pieschl (Cal) vs. Tabtip Louhabanjong (IUP)
(2) Sarah Lynch (SRU) vs. Michele Perez (Bloom)
The top two seeded teams advanced in women's doubles as California and Mercyhurst will each play in the semifinals on Sunday. California will face Slippery Rock and Mercyhurst will take on IUP.
Women's Doubles Semifinals
(1) Pondicas/Pieschl (Cal) vs. Lynch/Drmac (SRU)
(2) Ezzo/Bristol (MC) vs. Eaton/Osborne (IUP)
Three of the four seeds held and advanced to the semifinals in the men's singles draw. Mercyhurst's Keith Whittingham dropped just five games in four sets to advance to the semis, where he will meet No. 3 seed Preetham Moras of Millersville. No. 2 seed Ricky Dove of Bloomsburg advanced to the semis by winning three straight sets by a 6-0 score before having to go an extra game to win his final set of his quarterfinal match 7-5 to advance, where he will meet his teammate Mark Schroeder, who knocked off No. 4 seed Drew Solcum of Millersville in the first round by winning a 13-11 third-set tiebreaker. He then cruised in his quarterfinal match against Kutztown's Andrew Zhu.
Men's SIngles Semifinals
(1) Keith Whittingham (MC) vs. (3) Preetham Moras (Mill)
(2) Ricky Dove (Bloom) vs. Mark Schroeder (Bloom)
Both top seeds advanced to the championship match of the men's doubles draw as Millersville's Moras and Slocum, the top seed, topped Mercyhurst 8-4 in the semifinals while Bloomsburg's Dove and Schroeder, who will battle in the singles semifinals later in the day, will team up to go for the doubles championship against Millersville after topping East Stroudsburg 8-2 in the doubles semis.
Men's Doubles Championship
(1) Moras/Slocum (Mill) vs. (2) Dove/Schroeder (Bloom)
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Shippensburg, Pa. - For the second straight year, Shippensburg will serve as the host of the PSAC Individual Tennis Championships this Saturday and Sunday. The individual tennis championships mark the first PSAC championship of the 2010-11 school year. Individual champions in men's and women's singles and doubles will be crowned after the two-day tournament on Sunday. With all of last year's champions no longer on their respective teams' rosters, there will be new champions in all four draws - men's and women's singles and doubles.
Players from 12 women's and six men's teams will vie for the individual championships. Bloomsburg, East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, Mercyhurst, Millersville and West Chester sponsor both men’s and women’s tennis. California, Cheyney, Clarion, IUP, Shippensburg and Slippery Rock have only women’s tennis. Edinboro has also added both men's and women's tennis beginning this year but the Fighting Scots will not participate in any PSAC championships until next season.
There will be a new women's singles champion this year as California's Alina Stanila, the singles champion the last two years, has graduated. Last year's runner-up, Cal's Axelle Fernandez, does return and is the No. 3 seed this year after being the No. 2 last year. Fernandez's teammate Anna Pieschl is the No. 1 seed while Slippery Rock's Sarah Lynch is the No. 2. Other contenders include the other three top seeds in No. 4 Kim Ezzo of Mercyhurst, No. 5 Anastassiya Zherdeva of California and No. 6 Katie Eaton of IUP. The top six players in the draw are seeded and there are a total of 28 players vying for the women's singles title. The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.
There will also be a new team of women's doubles champions as last year's champions, Cal's Nina Kowalski and Laurie Navarro have graduated. This year, another Cal team is the No. 1 seed in Pieschl and Jade Pondicas. One half of last year's runner-up team from Mercyhurst returns as half of this year's No. 2 seed in Mercyhurst's Kim Ezzo. After teamming with Meghan Raynor last year to advance to the finals as an unseeded team, Ezzo will team up with Carolina Bristol this year as the No. 2 seed. Also of note is Slippery Rock's unseeded team of Lynch and Dunja Drmac. Drmac was part of the No. 2 seeded team last year before being knocked out in the semifinals by Mercyhurst's team. There will be a total of 12 duos vying for the women's doubles championship, one from each team.
The men's singles bracket is full of new faces and there will be a new champion this year as only one of last year's semifinal participants returns. That individual is Bloomsburg's Ricky Dove, the No. 2 seed this year. Mercyhurst's Keith Whittingham is the No. 1 seed. A pair of Millersville players round out the top seeds as Preetham Moras is No. 3 and Drew Slocum is No. 4. A total of 16 players will compete for the men's singles title and there are no byes in the first round.
There will also be new champions in men's doubles. Leading the way among the contenders are Millersville's Moras and Slocum, the No. 1 seed. Slocum teammed with Drew Sorgi last year to finish second to a since-departed team from Kutztown. Dove and Mark Schroeder from Bloomsburg will be the No. 2 seed. A total of six doubles duos, one from each team, will vye for the men's doubles championship, with the two top seeds receiving first round byes.
Complete brackets for both men's and women's singles and doubles as well as results on both Saturday and Sunday can be found on Shippensburg's host site.