RADNOR, Pa. - The Cabrini women's tennis team returns to the Colonial States Athletic Conference postseason tournament on Friday and will face the Gwynedd Mercy Griffins in the semifinal round at Legacy Tennis Center in Philadelphia, Pa. The match is set to begin at 9 a.m.
Â
The Blue and White earned the fourth seed in this year's championship tournament, after finishing the season 9-7 overall and 8-2 in the CSAC. After another remarkable season, the Griffins have earned the one seed, as the Griffins finished 15-1, with a perfect 10-0 conference record.
Â
Following Friday morning's match, the second seeded Immaculata Mighty Macs (11-3, 8-2 CSAC) will take on the number three seed Marywood Pacers (10-4, 8-2).
Â
The winners of Friday's matches will advance to Saturday afternoon's championship match. Saturday's victor will also earn the CSAC's automatic bid to the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Â
The Griffins come in to Saturday's match red hot, having won their last 13 matches, while the Cavaliers won their last three conference matches to clinch a playoff spot.
Â
The two-time defending champion Gwynedd Mercy Griffins will look to earn their seventh CSAC Championship in the last eight years, while the Cabrini Cavaliers hope to advance to the finals for the first time since 2011.
Â
The Cavaliers have dropped their last eight meetings to the Griffins and in their last match on October 8, the Blue and White fell 8-1.
Â
The Griffins took the first two doubles matches, before sophomores
Stefanie Barkofski and
Maggie Javitt paired to earn an 8-4 number three doubles victory.
Â
In singles action, it was all Gwynedd Mercy, as it swept singles play.
Â
Cabrini will look for its doubles teams to get going Friday morning. On the year, Barkofski and Javitt are 5-0 in number three doubles play, while senior
Terra McHenry and junior
Elena Conway sport a 6-4 CSAC mark in their number one doubles matches.
Â
The Cavaliers will also look for McHenry and fellow senior
Nicole Broccolino to come out strong in singles, as they have all season long for the Blue and White. In number one singles, McHenry is 8-2 in conference action, while Broccolino sports a 9-1 CSAC record at the number two flight.
Â
The Griffins will look to its one two punch, made of CSAC Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year Katie Garthaus and Natalie Danze, who have combined for an astonishing 31-0 singles record this season.
Garthaus, who has taken the league by storm, leads the conference with a perfect 16-0 record between her numbers one and two singles matches. Danze has earned victories in flights one through four, with the majority of her damage being done at the number four spot, as the rookie holds a CSAC best 10-0 record.
Â