BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - The No. 3 seeded Goldey-Beacom College women's tennis team has earned a return trip to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Finals by virtue of a 5-2 match victory over No. 2 Chestnut Hill in the semifinal round this afternoon at Meyers Tennis Center.

The Lightning (7-2) avenged a dramatic 5-4 loss to the Griffins in the season finale this past Monday and punched a ticket for their third consecutive appearance in the CACC Finals where they will once again meet Concordia College, this year's tournament host and No. 1 seed.

Freshman CACC Player/Rookie of the Year, Stephanie Puentes bounced back from a No. 1 singles and doubles loss against the Griffins in her last outing to win both when it mattered most and lead the Lightning to a resounding win.

Puentes teamed up with freshman Anastasia Melnikova at No. 1 doubles instead of her usual partner Fillipa Correia who was limited to only sinles play due to injury. The lineup switch by head coach Joe Kissel proved successful as Puentes and Melnikova defeated Nastia Scherbakova and Kelly Dennis, 8-2. Then, when juniors Vanessa Leon and Blanca Sancho were once again victorious over Danielle Knott and Regina Doherty at No. 3 doubles, it was the Lightning who took a 2-1 match lead at the end of doubles play that the Griffins enjoyed last time around.

Needing three singles wins to complete the victory, Sancho, a conference honorable mention, earned a 6-4, 6-2 win over Dennis, and Second Team All-CACC selection, junior Melanie Bonomo, defeated Knott, 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5. With the No. 4 and 6 matches still undecided, Puentes finished off the match with a 7-5, 6-2 No. 1 singles win over Scherbakova. With that win, the Bogota, Columbia native has now beaten every CACC team's No. 1 singles player. 

GBC will square off against Concordia in the CACC Finals for the third straight year. The Clippers have yet to lose to a CACC team in the three years they have been a member of the conference. The Lightning, who were at the time without Second Team All-CACC player Marina Sales and CACC Honorable Mention Filipa Correia, played very competitively in a 6-3 regular season loss to the Clippers back on Sept. 30. They will look to knock off the host Clippers and win their first CACC Championship. The match begins tomorrow at 1 p.m.