Game, Set, Match: Women’s Tennis Wins Fifth Straight Championship
November 2, 2016
Five in a row. That’s what the NYIT women’s tennis program managed to achieve on Saturday, October 30, when the team clinched their fifth consecutive East Coast Conference (ECC) Championship with a 5-0 sweep of Queens College. The win improves the Bears record in ECC finals to 5-1 with a flawless 12-0 record for the 2016 season.
The Blue and Gold wasted no time. NYIT started by taking victories in doubles action—earning them three points in the competition. First, Karolina Pondusova and Gabriela Siembab won 8-1 over Angelika Sobiecka and Emy Alplund; then Melanie Benyadi and Lena Dimmer shutout their opponents at second doubles; and finally, Antonella Lopez and Paulina Velasquez earned an 8-4 win at the third spot.
With only two points needed for the victory, the match became a race against time. First to finish was Benyadi, who won her match 6-2, 6-1 and raised the team score to 4 points to none. After all players had started their second sets, it was Velasquez who received the title-clinching point for her 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles.
This is the sixth appearance for the Bears in the championship match and fifth time facing Queens College.
Following the competition, Dimmer, a junior, was named the ECC Women's Tennis Player of Year while teammate Pondusova was selected as the league's Rookie of the Year. The two earn inclusion on the First Team; Benyadi and Siembab join them with First Team accolades.
Dimmer has been outstanding in her first season at NYIT, posting a regular season record of 12-2 in singles and 14-1 in doubles. In ECC play, she finished with a perfect 7-0 record in both singles and doubles play. Outside of ECC play, Dimmer advanced to the semifinals of the ITA East Region Championship.
Pondusova, a graduate student eligible for the rookie honor in her first season of intercollegiate tennis, compiled an 11-2 singles record and a 14-4 doubles record during the regular season. She was stellar in ECC play, finishing with a 6-1 record in both singles and doubles. In addition, Pondusova and Siembab teamed up to win the doubles tournament at the ITA East Region Championship, earning a trip to the ITA Oracle Cup in Arizona.
Women’s tennis will return to action in the 2017 season.
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