Holy Cross women’s and men’s tennis have been dominant in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play all year. On Saturday, both teams kept rolling, posting a pair of 4-0 sweeps at home against St. Ambrose to claim CCAC regular season titles and finish conference play unbeaten.
Women
The Saints women (8-2, 4-0 CCAC) entered Saturday on the heels of consecutive conference wins against Roosevelt and St. Francis that followed a narrow 4-3 non-conference defeat at the hands of Indiana Wesleyan. They came out firing at home against the Fighting Bees as they looked to head into the postseason riding a three-match winning streak.
In doubles, the one doubles duo of sophomore Kia Carvalho-Landell and freshman Nicole Martinez coasted to a 6-1 victory. The Saints sealed the doubles point as the pairings of seniors Anna Beer and Diane Maillotte and senior Helga Lopez and junior Emma Hawkins each completed 6-0 sweeps at two and three doubles, respectively.
After dropping just a single game across three doubles wins, the Saints matched that same feat in singles play. Carvalho-Landell won 6-0, 6-0 at one singles, and Maillotte battled to the same result in the five singles spot. With a 6-0, 6-1 win from Martinez at three singles, the Saints clinched a 4-0 team victory, leaving the remaining three singles matches unfinished.
Men
The men’s matchup played out similarly, as the Bees struggled to match up with a Saints team that came into the regular season finale with a month’s worth of momentum on their side. Holy Cross (10-3, 5-0 CCAC) had won eight straight matches while ceding just three total points – and just one point in their last six outings – in the midst of a stretch that included six shutout victories.
Saturday’s match was the second in as many days for the Saints – who defeated Indiana Wesleyan 6-1 at home on Friday – but they showed no signs of tired legs in a wire-to-wire sweep of the Bees. Junior Ciaran McCarthy and freshman Oscar Wai got things started at one doubles with a 6-1 win, and seniors Nolan Santacroce and Justin Friesen won 6-3 at three doubles to clinch the point for Holy Cross.
As with the women, the Saints men saw two players earn 6-0, 6-0 sweeps on the singles courts. Freshman Adam Singleton did so at two singles while senior Bruno Sentkar posted a shutout at six. When McCarthy emerged at three singles with a 6-1, 6-1 victory, Holy Cross completed their 4-0 win over the Bees.
Saturday marked the conclusion of an outstanding regular season for the entire Holy Cross tennis program. The Saints women and men were a combined 9-0 in conference play and 13-0 at home. The teams combined to lose just one total point in those nine CCAC wins, with the men sweeping all five of their conference matchups and the women sweeping three of their four. The teams finished the regular season with a total record of 18-5 and carry 12 consecutive wins between them as they move into postseason play.
After claiming the regular season titles, the women’s and men’s teams both enter the CCAC tournament as the No. 1 seed and will begin play in the semifinal round.
