Heading into the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 1 seed, the Boston University women’s tennis team was poised to take home the league title in its first year in the new conference. The team did not disappoint, and the Terriers took home the Patriot League crown with a victory over the second-seeded U.S. Military Academy, 4-1, at the Bucknell Varsity Tennis Courts in Lewisburg, Pa.
With the conference victory in hand, the Terriers will be heading to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time in program history, and the first since the 2011 campaign. It is BU’s 23rd league title and first-ever in the Patriot League.
Early on in the contest, it appeared that the nine-time defending champion Black Knights would take their 10th consecutive title when they came out strong in the doubles matchups. The Terriers did take the No. 3 doubles match when sophomores Kim McCallum and Madison Craft upended the duo of junior Maya Parker and freshman Nancy Porter 8-1. But the No. 1 and No. 2 matchups were taken by Army by scores of 8-4 and 8-2 respectively, giving the Black Knights the point for doubles.
Down 1-0 heading into singles, the Terriers coasted to the tune of four straight victories to grab the conference win.
In the No. 1 seed match, Johanna Hyoty continued her impressive season with a win over Army’s top seed senior Jamila Paul. Taking the first set 6-2, Hyoty closed things out in the second with a 6-1 win. Hytoty was awarded the Patriot League Most Valuable Player for her play throughout the tournament.
Senior Leonie-Charlotte Athanasiadis continued the Terrier dominance in the third-seeded match when she took back-to-back 6-1 victories over Black Knight sophomore Gabriella Spindler.
Already defeating Porter in the doubles match, McCallum claimed another victory over the Black Knights, this time winning in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-4.
Sophomore Lauren Davis won her No. 2 seed match with wins of 6-2 and 6-1, earning the Terriers the Patriot League title in their first year in the conference.
Tennis places second at tournament
The Boston University golf team competed in its respective Patriot League Tournament this weekend and finished in second place at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pa.
Bucknell University won the tournament with a total of 930, three shots better than the Terriers at 933. Lehigh University finished in third place with a score of 939.
On start of the tournament’s final day, the Terriers saw themselves trailing the Bison by nine shots, but made an impressive run to cut the deficit by just three strokes.
Junior Kristyna Pavlickova paved the way for BU, finishing second individually in the tournament with a three-round total of 226. In her final round, she shot a 76, which placed her just two strokes behind Bucknell junior Lauren Bernard.
Following Pavlickova’s second-place finish, freshman Adela Cejnarova, competing in her first Patriot League Tournament, also finished her last round shooting a 76, ending the tournament with a total of 235. Her score earned her a fifth-place finish and a nod by the Patriot League as the conference’s Rookie of the Year.
With a 74 in the final round, sophomore Emily Tilo was able to end up in seventh place in the competition with her score of 238. Two more Terriers shot under 80 for the day when junior Flor Canedo posted a 79 and sophomore Maddy Silverman shot a 76. At the end of the third round, the two stood at a 244 for the tournament, tying for 12th place.
Though the Terriers did not come away victorious at the tournament, Pavlickova and Cejnarova won were named to the Patriot League All-First Team and Tilo was named to the All-Second Team. Coach Bruce Chalas took home the Patriot League Coach of the Year.
Crew wins Bill Cup
For the ninth consecutive year, the Boston University men’s rowing team took home the Bill Cup after it swept both Dartmouth College and Rutgers University in Concord, N.H.
With senior coxswain Justin Rau leading the Terriers’ first varsity eight boat, the team cruised to victory, finishing with a time of 6:21.1, over 10 seconds ahead of Dartmouth’s boat.
The Terriers’ next three varsity eight boats all took wins over their Dartmouth counterparts, winning each race by at least 14 seconds.
Next up for BU was Rutgers, and just like against the Big Green, the Terriers easily claimed victory with impressive wins. In the first varsity eight race, BU won with a time of 6:28.6 over Rutgers’ finish of 6:47.1.
The second and third varsity eight boats both also defeated the Scarlet Knights, with the second boat winning by 43 seconds.
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