Shcherbakova and Oechsle Receive Honorable Mention among CACC Weekly Award Winners
New Haven, CT – (9/20/2011) – Contributing to two league victories and advancing to the semifinals in the United States Tennis Association (USTA)/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Regional Championships, junior
Nastia Shcherbakova (Minsk, Belarus) and freshman
Morgan Oechsle (Coopersburg, PA) were recognized with honorable mentions among the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) weekly award winners.
Shcherbakova earned an honorable mention for the CACC Player of the Week award. She had a tremendous week for Chestnut Hill College (6-0, 3-0), first scoring singles and doubles wins over, CACC rivals, Philadelphia University and Georgian Court University, then reaching the semifinals of the USTA/ITA East Regional Women’s A Singles Championships. She defeated Isabella Espinosa of Philadelphia University 6-0, 6-0 and teamed with sophomore
Kelly Dennis (Cincinnati, OH) for an 8-1 doubles win over sophomore Sayre Limburg (New London, NJ) and senior Stephanie Reinke (St. James, NY). She was just as successful against Georgian Court University, defeating freshman Maria Lenl (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) 6-1, 7-5 in singles play and teaming with Dennis for an 8-2 doubles win over Lenl and Sofia Sarkissova. At the USTA/ITA Regionals, Shcherbakova rattled off three victories in the Women’s A Singles Draw before losing to junior Yuliya Plevako (Astana, Kazakhstan) 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinal round.
Oechsle was 2-0 in both singles and doubles play this week, before making a strong run at the USTA/ITA East Regional Championships. She first scored a 6-3, 6-1 win over Brittany Villa of Philadelphia University and teamed with junior
Maria Parapouras (Victoria, Australia) for an 8-1 doubles win over Espinosa and sophomore Elizabeth Verbits (Salisbury, MD). Then she defeated senior Sarah Lockenmeyer (Pt. Pleasant, NJ) of Georgian Court University 6-0, 6-1 and contributed to an 8-1 doubles win over junior Victoria Gaffney (Forked River, NJ) and Lockenmeyer. At the USTA/ITA Regionals, Oechsle recorded four singles victories in the Women’s B Singles Draw before falling to eventual champion 8-3, freshman Anatasiya Melnikova (Vladivostok, Russia) of Goldey-Beacom College. She also reached the semifinals in the Women’s B Doubles Draw, teaming with Parapouras for three wins before losing 8-6 to junior Kristyna Nepivodova (Breznice, Czech Republic) and freshman Maxime Duijst (Valkenswaard, Netherlands) of the University of the District of Columbia.
The women’s tennis team returns to their CACC schedule with a 11:00 a.m. match at Concordia College (NY).