FLUSHING, N.Y. – Hosting one half of the NCAA East Regional Tournament, the No. 37-ranked and top-seeded Queens College Women's Tennis welcomed No. 4 seed Wilmington University Women's Tennis to the QC Indoor Tennis Bubble Saturday afternoon with a trip to the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship Final Rounds on the line.
Meeting the Wildcats in the East Regional for the second straight season, the Knights battled back after dropping the doubles point as senior
Regina Ruiz (Mexico City, Mexico) clinched the decisive match at No. 6 singles to lift Queens to a thrilling 4-2 comeback victory and secure the program's third consecutive trip to the NCAA Final Rounds.
Doubles Play
Doubles action proved to be tightly contested throughout, but Wilmington was able to take the early advantage.
At No. 1 doubles, the nationally-ranked No. 42 pairing of senior
Marie Bertran (Villelaure, France) and freshman
Ela Vasic (Novi Sad, Serbia) fell 6-4 to Ming-Fu Chen and Molly Carlberg.
The doubles point ultimately came down to No. 3 doubles, where senior
Lydia Zafeiri (Athens, Greece) and sophomore
Johanne Genestay (Dinan, France) battled into a tiebreak before narrowly dropping a 7-6
(7-4) decision to Siana MacDonald and Maria Ines Oliveira.
At No. 2 doubles, juniors
Lilie Bizouerne (La Ciotat, France) and
Sixtine Goubet (Lyon, France) were locked in a battle against Gloria Barcaro and Liza Sylka before the match went unfinished.
Singles Play
At No. 2 singles, Goubet delivered a dominant straight-set victory over Elena Camacho to even the match at 1-1.
Vasic then gave the Knights their first lead of the afternoon with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 win over Sylka at No. 5 singles.
The Wildcats answered back at No. 4 singles as Genestay fell to Chen in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, tying the overall score at 2-2.
Queens regained control moments later when Bizouerne earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Carlberg at No. 3 singles, putting the Knights one point away from advancing.
With the match coming down to the final two courts, Bertran and MacDonald battled in a highly competitive No. 1 singles showdown. Bertran claimed the opening set 7-5 before MacDonald rallied to force a decisive third set.
Meanwhile at No. 6 singles, Ruiz dropped the first set 6-4 to Barcaro before responding with a dominant 6-1 second-set performance to send the match into a deciding third set.
Riding the momentum, Ruiz jumped out to an early lead before Barcaro fought back to even the set. The two continued trading games until Ruiz broke serve to move ahead 5-3 and put herself in position to close out the match.
Serving for the victory, Ruiz raced out to a 40-15 advantage before Barcaro saved one match point. On the next point, however, the senior sealed the win and sent the Knights back to the NCAA Final Rounds with a dramatic 6-3 third-set victory.
With the win, 47th-year head coach
Alan Nagel and the Knights improved to 17-4 overall, marking the program's highest win total since the 2014-15 season. Queens also secured its 11th appearance in the NCAA Championship Final Rounds and third straight trip to the national stage.
Next Match:
With the regional victory, Queens advances to the Final Rounds of the 2026 NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship in Surprise. Additional details regarding the tournament schedule will be announced at a later date.
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