ANNVILLE, Pa. - After winning the program's first-ever Commonwealth Conference championship in 2009, the Lebanon Valley College women's tennis team is back to defend their crown starting Tuesday at home against Messiah College.
The Dutchmen (16-2, 5-1 CC) enter as the playoff's second seed, and host third-seeded Messiah (7-5, 4-2 CC) at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. In the other semifinal, top-seeded Elizabethtown (13-4, 6-0 CC) hosts fourth seed Alvernia (12-3, 3-3 CC). The winners meet Saturday at the higher seed to decide the title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Tuesday's semifinal will see many of the same match-ups from when LVC and Messiah met back in the fall, a 5-4 win by the Dutchmen in Grantham, but a change by Messiah at the lower singles flights could be the key to the match.
Lebanon Valley will be led by defending CC Player of the Year
Sarah Grodzinski, who is 17-1 in dual matches this year and undefeated in conference play. Grodzinski blanked Messiah No. 1 Christie McGinley during their meeting in the fall.
The Dutchmen have also relied on CC rookie of the year candidate
Lauren Fulmer, who finished the regular season unbeaten at 18-0 in duals playing at No. 4. Fulmer is expected to meet Annie Gotchel at No. 4, who she beat 6-0, 6-0 earlier this season.
At No. 2 singles,
Shayna Heintzelman is expected to face Stacey Clark again after falling to Clark 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the fall, and
Tamera Lobb will again play Katie Marstaller at No. 3 follow Marstaller's 6-0, 6-3 regular-season win.
Messiah's line-up will be different at the bottom two rungs, however, with Steph Knepper, who beat
Caitlin Bedford 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5, sliding to No. 6 and Sarah Thow, who did not play against LVC in the fall, taking over No. 5. That could swing a point Messiah's way, since LVC got a win at No. 5 with
Morgan Brady over Kristen Chen; Chen is not in Tuesday's line-up.
In doubles, the top flight will be the same as Grodzinski and Heintzelman take on McGinley and Clark; the LVC tandem earned a comfortable 8-2 win in their previous meeting. At No. 2, Thow and Gotchel will face Lobb and Fulmer, and at No. 3, Marstaller and Knepper, who won 8-3 in the fall, play Brady and
Jess Ferlenda.
Commonwealth Conference Semifinal
Lebanon Valley vs. Messiah Projected Line-Ups
Singles
1.
Sarah Grodzinski (17-1) vs. Christie McGinley (4-5)
2.
Shayna Heintzelman (15-3) vs. Stacey Clark (7-5)
3.
Tam Lobb (10-7) vs. Katie Marstaller (9-3)
4.
Lauren Fulmer (18-0) vs. Annie Gotchel (7-5)
5.
Caitlin Bedford (3-8) vs. Sarah Thow (2-5)
6.
Morgan Brady (10-5) vs. Steph Keppner (8-3)
Doubles
1. Heintzelman/Grodzinski (13-2) vs. McGinley/Clark (4-3)
2. Lobb/Fulmer (9-4) vs. Gotchel/Thow (2-6)
3. Brady/Jess Ferlenda (3-4) vs. Marstaller/Keppner (8-3)
