DUDLEY, Mass. (10/18/24) – The top-seeded Nichols College women's tennis program has advanced to their third consecutive conference championship appearance, where they will host No. 3 seed Endicott College on Saturday, October 19
th at the Robinson Tennis Courts. Opening serve between the Bison and the Gulls is set for 1:00 PM.
The 2024 CNE Championship is also the third consecutive meeting of these two programs in the conference title match. In last season's Commonwealth Coast Conference championship, Endicott narrowly edged the Bison by a 5-4 final score. This season, the Bison hold a combined 50-4 record against conference opponents in both singles and doubles competition.
The winner will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament, which will be held in spring of 2025.
2024 Season Series: Both teams advanced to Saturday's title match with respective sweeps in the CNE Semifinal round, with Endicott (7-6, 4-2 CNE) besting No. 2 Gordon and Nichols (10-3, 6-0 CNE) defeating No. 4 Roger Williams. The two teams last met back on September 28
th, where the Bison shut out the Gulls by a 7-0 score, which was their first victory over Endicott since the 2018-19 season.
All-time, Nichols holds a 16-25 record against the Gulls.
Who to Watch: With their sweep of the Hawks on Thursday, Nichols enters Saturday's matchup with a combined 52-23 dual singles record this season, led by senior
Antonia Carrero (11-2, 6-0 CNE). Carrero, the CNE Player of the Year, was one of Nichols' three singles victories over Roger Williams, where she won 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 2 position to clinch the match for the Bison. Carrero additionally clinched the doubles point for the Bison, alongside partner
Johanna Schroeder, winning by a 6-3 score at the No. 2 flight. Senior
Johanna Schroeder, who has been an impact player at the No. 4 singles position, brings a 10-2 (6-0 CNE) singles record to the table on Saturday, as well as an 8-3 (4-1 CNE) doubles record with Carrero.
CNE Rookie of the Year
Kamora Helton has also been a driving force this season for Nichols, posting an 8-4 (6-0 CNE) singles record. Against the Hawks, Helton claimed a pair of wins at the top position for both doubles (6-3) and singles (6-0, 6-1), winning doubles alongside classmate
Pamela Gonzalez Vallardi. The freshman doubles tandem also leads the team with a 10-3 (6-0 CNE) record in 2024, with Gonzalez Vallardi also contributing a solid 6-6 (5-1 CNE) singles mark.
Sophomore
Cora Brosch and junior
Charis Vogler bolstered the bottom two positions for Nichols in singles this fall, respectively possessing 6-3 (4-0 CNE) and 5-1 (2-0 CNE) records. The two have also been the go-to No. 3 doubles tandem, receiving Second Team All-Conference recognition with a 7-1 (4-0 CNE) overall record.
Endicott rolls into Sautrday's matchup with a 40-29 (25-11 CNE) dual singles record, and a 24-11 (14-4 CNE) doubles record. Freshman Caroline Sutliffe, who was both a All-CNE First Team (singles) and Second Team (doubles) honoree this season, leads the way for the Gulls with an 8-4 (3-1 CNE) singles mark, and 4-4 (2-0 CNE) doubles record.
The Gulls also have a lineup of other notable players, including All-Conference First Team (singles and doubles) recipients Ripley Uyeda and Lejla Guster. Freshman Emily Leclerc stood out in her debut season with the Gulls, garnering Second Team Singles recognition with a 4-4 (2-1 CNE) dual record.
Sutliffe earned her Second Team doubles honors alongside senior partner Olivia Martinelli, with a combined 4-2 (2-0 CNE) record.
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