LONGMEADOW, Mass.- The 2008 New England Collegiate Conference Women's Tennis Championships were hosted this inaugural year by the Wildcats of Bay Path College at the Blinn Tennis Courts. The two-day individual flighted tournament was based on each member student-athlete's conference regular season records for both singles and doubles action.

After day one of tournament play, both Bay Path and Becker managed to be the only two schools remaining for final round title play. The Wildcats and the Hawks were mainly seeded in the #1 and #2 spots of each flight.

There was only one upset in the day one tourney play in the #2 flight of the doubles round. The #3 seeded pair of Julia Bendzin(Poestenkill, N.Y.) and Kara Fox (Biddeford, Maine), from Bay Path,  defeating the #2 seeded tandem of Anna Collins (Hopkinton, Mass) and Stephanie Valentine (Pleasant Valley, Conn.) 8-3.  This tight match was fought by two first team All-NECC doubles pairs.

The Becker Hawks' dominated doubles championships play with two upsets at the #1 and #3 doubles flight along with taking the #2 doubles.  All six Hawks were named the Individual Doubles Flight Champions. Taking the #1 Doubles Flight title was Allison Flynn ( Wilmington, Mass.) and Catherine Sivret (Stow, Mass.). Shauna McNally (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and Danielle Stryker (Ledyard, Conn.) won the #2 Doubles Title while teammates Megan Nessan (Levittown, Penn.) and Stephanie Sabolik (Stoney Point, N.Y.) grabbed the gold at the #3 flight.

On the singles side of the championship round, four #1 seeded student-athletes took home  the trophies while two upsets occurred with the #2 seeded players from both  Bay Path and Becker grabbed top honors.

In the #1 flight, Beckers' Flynn overcame the NECC Player of the Year Raquel Babeu (North Adams, Mass.) 1-6, 6-3, 6-44 for the first time in her career.  Also in the #5 flight, the Wildcats' Carolina Yguanzo(Springfield, Mass.) upset the NECC Rookie of the Year McNally 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Bay Path took three other single flights including the #2, #4 and #6 with Bendzin, Sarah Costa (Tiverton, R.I.) and Cristina Ruiz (Waterbury, Conn.) garnering the individual champion honors.

Beckers' Nessan would round out the championship hardware with a win at the #3 singles flight.  

For full bracket results:http://www.neccathletics.com/sports/wten/2008-09/news/2008_NECC_WTENNIS_BRACKETS.pdf

2008 New England Collegiate Conference Women's Tennis Championships

Hosted by Bay Path College, East Longmeadow, Mass. (Blinn Tennis Courts)
Saturday, October 18 and Sunday, October 19, 2008

Bay Path (BPC), Becker (BC), Mitchell (MC), Newbury (NC)

DOUBLES

Flight One:
1. #1 Doubles vs. #4 Doubles : Raquel Babeu/Carolina Ynguanzo (BPC, 3-0) def. Lauren Rowley/Jennifer Travella (MC, 1-2) 8-2
2. #2 Doubles vs. #3 Doubles:  Allison Flynn/Catherine Sivret (BC, 3-1) def.  Kristen Connors/Jillian Wojtowicz (NC, 2-4) 8-3

19. #2 Flynn/Sivret (BC) def. #1 Babeu/Ynguanzo (BPC) 8-3

Flight Two:
3. #1 Doubles vs. #4 Doubles : Shauna McNally/Danielle Stryker (BC, 5-0) def Tania Gee/Rebecca Ciccarone (MC, 0-4) 8-0
4. #2 Doubles vs. #3 Doubles: Anna Collins/Stephanie Valentine (NC, 3-2) lost to  Julia Bendzin/Kara Fox (BPC, 2-2) 8-3

20. #1 McNally/Stryker (BC) def. #3 Bendzin/Fox (BPC) 8-3

Flight Three:
5. #1 Doubles vs. #4 Doubles : Sarah Costa/Cristina Ruiz (BPC, 5-0) def.  Ilana Papernick/Sarah Webster (MC, 0-0 ) 8-0
6. #2 Doubles vs. #3 Doubles:  Megan Nessan/Stephanie Sabolik (BC, 2-1) def.  Alysha LaVigne/Elizabeth Valcourt (NC, 1-1) 8-1

21. #2 Nessan/Sabolik (BC) def. #1 Costa/Ruiz (BPC) 8-3

SINGLES

Flight One:
7. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Raquel Babeu (BPC, 6-0) def.  Jennifer Travella (MC, 0-5) 6-2, 6-2
8. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Allison Flynn (BC, 3-2) def.  Jillian Wojtowicz (NC, 2-3) 6-1, 6-1

22. #2 Allison Flynn (BC) def. #1 Raquel Babeu (BPC)1-6, 6-3, 6-4

Flight Two:
9. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Julia Bendzin (BPC, 3-0) def  Lauren Rowley (MC, 2-1) 6-1, 6-1
10. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Catherine Sivret (BC, 4-1) def.  Kristen Connors (NC, 1-4) 6-4, 6-2

23. #1 Julia Bendzin (BPC) def. Catherine Sivret (BC) 6-3, 6-3

Flight Three:
11. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Megan Nessan (BC, 4-1) def.  Ilana Papernick (MC, 0-4) 6-1, 6-0
12. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Kara Fox (BPC, 2-1) def. Anna Collins (NC, 2-3) 6-1, 6-1

24. #1 Megan Nessan (BC) def. Kara Fox (BPC) 6-3, 6-0

Flight Four:
13. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Sarah Costa (BPC, 6-0) def. Rebecca Ciccarone (MC, 0-4) 6-0, 6-1
14. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Danielle Stryker (BC, 3-2) def.  Stephanie Valentine (NC, 1-3) 6-1, 6-1

25. #1 Sara Costa (BPC) def. #2 Danielle Stryker (BC) 7-5, 6-2

Flight Five:
15. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Shauna McNally (BC, 5-0) def.  Tania Gee (MC, 0-1) 6-4, 6-2
16. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Carolina Ynguanzo (BPC, 2-1) def.  Elizabeth Valcourt (NC, 1-1) 6-1, 6-0

26. #2 Carolina Ynguanzo (BPC) def. #1 Shauna McNally (BC)3-6, 6-4, 6-2

Flight Six:
17. #1 Singles vs. #4 Singles: Cristina Ruiz (BPC, 6-0) def.  Alysha LaVigne (NC, 0-2) 6-1,6-0
18. #2 Singles vs. #3 Singles: Stephanie Sabolik (BC, 2-2) def.  Sarah Webster (MC, 0-1)  6-2, 6-2

27. #1 Cristina Ruiz (BPC) def. #2 Stephanie Sabolik (BC) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1