PHILADELPHIA - Top seeded Concordia College and No. 2 Goldey-Beacom College will meet for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Tennis Championship for the second straight season on Saturday at Chestnut Hill College beginning at 1 p.m.
The Clippers (10-0) upended No. 4 Chestnut Hill College, 5-0, in Tuesday's semi-final round, while the Lightning (11-1) defeated No. 3 Holy Family University, 5-1. Concordia claimed last season's championship with a 5-3 triumph over GBC.
In the last two seasons, both teams have proven to be among the conference's elite as GBC has accumulated a regular season record of 14-2 and Concordia, a mark of 16-0, in that span. Both of the Lightning's two losses have come to the Clippers, who also bested GBC in the conference finals last season.
Last year's conference finals saw the Lightning become the conference's closest team to pulling off an upset of second-year conference member Concordia when they lost by the narrow margin of 5-3. Only two other teams, Phila U. and Chestnut Hill, have even been able to score a point against the Clippers, as both schools have lost 8-1, respectively, in their last two consecutive regular season meetings with the new conference powerhouse.
This season, GBC has been successful because of its team depth. Even with no All-CACC individual selections, the Lightning were just one match away from an undefeated mark this Fall.
“It just goes to show you GBC's success was a 'true team effort' with different players coming through at different times throughout the year,” fifth-year head coach Joe Kissel said.
Meanwhile, the defending champions showed they are still loaded with individual talent as Concordia's Ola Roberts was named the CACC player of the year and three Clippers were selected to the All-CACC 2nd team.
The Lightning, in just the program's sixth season of competition, have qualified for post-season play the last three seasons and advanced to the finals now twice. They will look to knock off the unbeaten Clippers on Sat. and earn their first-ever CACC championship.
