DUDLEY, Mass. (11/1/2025) - Nichols College women's tennis hosted visiting No. 3 Gordon College in the semifinal round of the Conference of New England tournament on Saturday afternoon. Concluding a gritty and hard-fought match the Bison were able to take down Gordon to advance to the CNE Final, 4-2.
Following the win, Nichols improves to a record of 13-1 overall. With the loss, Gordon's record is set for the fall at 10-4, and they are eliminated from the tournament.
The Fighting Scots started the day with momentum, winning the doubles point. Court No. 3 was the first to finish as a loss with a score of 6-1 in favor of Gordon, and court No. 1 was quick to follow seeing a 6-2 loss for the Bison.
Charis Vogler and
Cora Brosch were in the lead with energy to spare on court No. 2, but the losses prior left the match as unfinished (UF).
Going into singles down a point, the Bison needed to win four of the six singles points to win the match. Brosch was the first to finish for Nichols and effectively equalize the score early, getting her point on court No. 4 with scores of 6-2, 6-2.
Kamora Helton overpowered her competition on the No. 1 court, only giving up two games in a 6-0, 6-2 win that put the Bison into lead. At ths point in time, court No. 2 was up a set and courts No. 3, 5, and 6 were down, meaning that every result going forward was crucial to the Bison's success. On No. 5,
Erin Helly came close to forcing a third set but ultimately lost 2-6, 5-7. At 2-2 for the match, all eyes were on Vogler on court No. 2 to put Nichols back in front in which she delivered, 6-4, 6-2.
With
Pamela Gonzalez Vallardi going into her third set and
Cassie Rice down at the time on court No. 6, the focus shifted to court No. 3 where a win would mean an advancement to the Final. Backed by the chants and encouragement of those around her, Gonzalez Vallardi came in clutch for the Bison in her 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win, putting Nichols in the win column to end the match. Rice on court No. 6 saw her match unfinished at the brink of pushing to a third set.
Women's Tennis will return tomorrow at noon on the Robinson Tennis Courts to host No. 5 Endicott in the CNE Final.