The Elizabethtown College women’s tennis team headed to Hilton Head Island, S.C. over spring break to face up against four teams. The singles line up against York College came out victorious 9-0, and doubles 8-2. St. John Fisher College lost to Etown, 8-1, Roanoke College lost 5-4, and Mount Union College lost 5-4.
The first match took place Monday, March 2 against the York Spartans. This marked the Blue Jays’ first face off against the Spartans since 2002. The senior duo of Christine Evangelista and Kaitlyn Pellegrino beat the Spartans’ top pair. Evangelista and Pellegrino won their 54th match together. In her final season at Etown, Evangelista has won every pairs match with Pellegrino as her partner. The team of junior Lauren Berry and sophomore Taylor Helsel was victorious at number two. Junior Madison McCall was teamed with first-year Sam Procak at number 3 for the sweeping doubles victory.
Procak had not been on the courts in many years. “I was very nervous at first, but quickly became confident with encouragement from my teammates,” Procak said. In singles games Pellegrino sealed win number 105 when she beat Emily Price 6-1, 6-1. She is now only one victory away from being placed eighth on the school’s career wins list. Berry, at number 3, won 6-2, 6-1. McCall defeated Emily Skutnik 6-1, 6-0, and Helsel, at number 4, fought to win 7-5, 7-6. Procak was in her first career singles win 6-0, 6-1 at number six. Even after day one the girls showed they would be “extremely tough, extremely difficult to beat and play extremely hard,” Coach Helsel said.
On Tuesday, March 3, the Blue Jays won all six singles matches against the St. John Fisher Cardinals. This was the second day in a row they Jays won all the singles matches. At number one Evangelista tied Allison Burkhardy for sixth place in program history with her 106th combined win. She conquered Cardinals player Sania Zaki 6-2, 6-0. Both number two and three players Pellegrino and Berry were victorious 6-1, 6-1. Number four McCall also swept her singles match. Finishing off the singles matches Helsel, number five won with final scores at 6-1, 7-5, while number six Procak was victorious 6-1, 6-0. The head coach shuffled the doubles line up based on the high performance in singles matches. McCall and Procak moving to number 1 had a clean win 8-0. Number two Berry and sophomore Brooke Hillriegel won all eight of the matches they played. Pair number three Sarah Sorrentino and Olivia Rotondo won their match 8-4 against sophomore Erin Clay and junior Laura Travis.
After a day to rest the Jays moved on to play the Roanoke Maroons, the ITA Atlantic South Region’s 17th-ranked team. Etown’s victory over a regionally-ranked opponent was the first since March 20, 2013. Berry and Helsel took number two in the doubles match with a score of 8-4. Number three McCall and Procak also won their match with a similar score. For a short time the Maroons took the lead 3-2. Three of four wins in the finals from Berry, McCall and Procak put the Jays back on top.
Friday, March 6 was the last day Etown faced the Mount Union Purple Raiders. McCall won her matches 6-1, 6-2. Procak defeated Anna Nelson 6-2, 6-2 and Berry conquered her opponent 6-3, 6-3. Helsel won her first match against Kayla Johnson, but lost the following two matches. The score was tied heading into the doubles matches. McCall and Procak shut out their opponents 8-0. The Purple Raiders came back to tie it up with and 8-3 win by number one MacKenzie Jenkins and Reichert. Finally to shut out the match Berry and Helsel won their doubles match 8-4. After a match like this the team is “already better at winning close matches,” Helsel said.
The Jays finished up their spring break week 4-0. This was the third perfect spring break trip in the last four years. McCall earned her 25th career singles win, while Berry got to her 20th. The team’s next match is scheduled for Thursday, March 19 at 3:30 p.m. against Muhlenberg College. “They always play very disciplined, and this will be a precursor to the rest of the season,” Helsel said.
