The Shippensburg University women’s tennis team won its second Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division match in as many days on Wednesday, defeating Shepherd, 4-3, on a sunny and hot afternoon at Robb Sports Complex.
Shippensburg (3-7, 2-3 PSAC East) and Shepherd (3-14, 1-8) each won three singles matches – a major key to the victory was the doubles point.
The freshman duo of Avery Wissinger (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg Area) and Katelyn Hanft (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) teamed up for a 6-1 victory at No. 3 doubles after the Rams won 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.
In the decisive match at No. 2 doubles, the team of sophomore Kendall Winters (Lancaster, Pa./Lampeter Strasburg) and junior Brighid Cantwell (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) broke serve midway through to power ahead with a 6-3 victory that gave the Raiders a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Hanft won her No. 6 singles match convincingly, blanking her opponent 6-0. Shepherd posted wins at No. 1 and No. 2 singles to gain two team points.
Cantwell improved to 5-1 in the spring and 4-1 against PSAC East opponents with a 6-0, 6-0 win at No. 4 singles. It was Cantwell’s third straight victory.
Wissinger battled in her match at No. 5 singles, rallying after a 3-6 setback in her first set to win the second set, 6-0. With the overall match still undecided, Wissinger and her opponent played a full third set. Wissinger won it, 6-1, to clinch the match for the Raiders, as the Rams took No. 3 singles despite Winters winning 10 total singles games.
Shippensburg will host Bloomsburg at noon Saturday for its final home match of the season. The team will honor its lone senior, Sahar Islam (Bridgeport, Pa./Upper Merion), in a pre-match ceremony.
