Endicott blanks Bridgewater State to reach NCAA Second Round

BRUNSWICK, Maine – A dominating performance by the Endicott women's tennis team led to the program's first ever NCAA Tournament victory on Friday, as the Gulls shut out Bridgewater State 5-0 to advance into the Second Round of the national playoff bracket.  Endicott (19-3) moves on to face the fifth-ranked team in the country and regional site host Bowdoin on Saturday morning at 11:00 am. 

Bowdoin is 14-4 on the season and entered the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid after exiting the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) playoffs in the semifinal round.  Seeded third in their tournament, the Polar Bears beat Trinity (Conn.) 5-0 in the opening round before falling to Williams 5-1.  Endicott and Bowdoin have never met in either program's history. 

Facing the champions of the Little East Conference (LEC), Endicott rolled through doubles action by taking all three flights.  After five out of the six first sets in singles play went to Endicott, the Gulls waited until two of their players at the #3 and #5 positions claimed the final two points for the Blue and Green. 

Sophomores Natalie Egbert (Gorham, Maine) and Chrissy Martel (Westbrook, Conn.) started off the match with an 8-1 victory at the top doubles position, improving the duo's overall record to 14-5 this season.  Freshman Brittany Potter (Bedford, N.H.) sophomore Amy Heacox (Marion, Mass.) followed by winning #3 doubles 8-1 to make it 2-0 Endicott.  Potter and Heacox have been near perfect on the season with a 16-1 overall record.  With an 8-3 victory at the #2 doubles spot, junior Emilie Cloutier (Lewiston, Maine) and senior Gina Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) pushed the Endicott lead up to 3-0 heading into singles action.

Endicott's final two points came from the #3 and #5 singles flights, courtesy of Heacox and Pinciaro.  Pinciaro finished first, winning 6-1, 6-0 at the #5 position before Heacox ended the match 6-0, 6-0 at #3 singles.  Pinciaro improved to 8-6 while Heacox continues to play with an unblemished mark at 20-0. 

The Blue and Green were ahead in the other singles showdowns that went unfinished including a 6-0, 2-1 lead for freshman Suzie Newman (Dighton, Mass.) at #6 singles, a 6-1, 1-0 lead for Egbert, a 6-3 first set victory for Martel, and a 5-2 advantage in the first set for Cloutier. 

The Gulls are currently appearing in their third NCAA Division III Tournament and have made two First Round exits back in 2009 and 2012.  Endicott women's tennis is playing under first year head coach Jeremy Howard.