CCC SEMIFINALS: Endicott Tops Roger Williams, 5-2

BEVERLY, Mass. – In a tightly contested matchup, the second-seeded Endicott women's tennis team defeated third-seeded Roger Williams, 5-2, in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinal round on Tuesday evening. 

Endicott produced a 2-1 advantage in doubles after the No. 2 and No. 3 pairings of Hayley Barnett (Marlboro, N.J.)/Reilly Fitzgibbons (Killingworth, Conn.) and Lauren Rahr (Waterford, Conn.)/Alexandra Barmore (Southington, Conn.) registered an 8-2 win and an 8-4 victory, respectively. 

Meanwhile, in singles, the Gulls saw Rahr (No. 5, 6-0, 6-1), Gillian Freter (Scituate, Mass.) – No. 4, 6-2, 6-3 – and Fitzgibbons (No. 3, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1) earn three straight wins to clinch the match, and advance to the CCC Championship. 

TOP QUOTE 

"Gritty win for this squad against a very tough Roger Williams team," said Endicott women's tennis head coach Jeremy Howard. "There were a lot of ebbs and flows to this match with some great battles and we are definitely excited to move on to the title match for the seventh straight year." 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Roger Williams tied the match up at 2-2 in singles with a win at the No. 2 flight and also held leads in No. 1 and No. 6 singles before Endicott answered with three straight wins from Rahr, Freter and Fitzgibbons.
• The Gulls are 7-1 at home this season.
• Rahr has now won eight straight singles matches (dating back to last year).
• Barnett and Fitzgibbons improved to 11-1 overall as a doubles pairing today. 

WHAT'S NEXT 

No. 2 Endicott (10-2) will play No. 1 Nichols (13-2) in the CCC Championship this Saturday in Dudley, Mass. at a time to be determined later. Saturday's matchup will be the sixth meeting between the two programs in the CCC title match in the last seven seasons. 

No. 3 Roger Williams sees its fall season come to a close at 11-4 overall. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)