AMHERST, Mass. and NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- Seniors Ava Lyon and Olivia Gidlow are coming back to Bates with some hardware after capturing the B Flight consolation bracket championship at the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament, held Friday through Sunday at Amherst and Smith.

The format of the tournament was a team of two played a team of two from another school in a doubles match and two singles matches. Whoever won two (or three) of the matches, moved on to the next round. Lyon (Naples, Fla.) and Gidlow (Cleveland, Ohio) dropped their first match to a team from MIT, before going on a strong run to end the weekend. 

It started with a 3-0 sweep of their opponents from Endicott in the consolation quarterfinals. Lyon won a tough three-set battle over Emily Leclerc by a count of 7-6 (7-1), 2-6, 11-9. Meanwhile, Gidlow swept Caroline Sutfliffe in convincing fashion, winning 6-1, 6-0. In the doubles match against Leclerc and Sutfliffe, Gidlow and Lyon prevailed 8-5.

They kept it rolling in the consolation semifinals, taking two of three matches against the Smith College team of Clara Goshgarian and Lili Goshgarian. It didn't start well, with an 8-0 loss in doubles play. But both players delivered terrific performances in singles play, as Lyon rallied to win 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 over Clara Goshgarian and Gidlow held off Lili Goshgarian for a 6-1, 4-6, 10-6 victory.

Lyon and Gidlow advanced to the consolation championship, and were declared the winners when the team they were set to face from Nichols College withdrew from the tournament. 

Elsewhere in the B Flight, seniors Drew Williams (Guilford, Conn.) and Lizzie Frekko (Lake Forest, Ill.) won their first-round match against a team from Nichols College. They won the doubles point by a count of 8-6 and Frekko got the job done in singles, 6-4, 6-2. In the quarterfinals, Williams and Frekko fell to the Tufts University duo of Ellie Gersha and Brooklyn Bindas. 

Sophomore Elise Hepburn (Vero Beach, Fla.) and first-year Mya Vincent (Auburn, Maine) impressed in the C Flight. They beat the Endicott doubles team of Abigail Fleming and Anna Mar Molina by a score of 8-2, and Hepburn got them into the quarterfinals with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep of Fleming.

The duo rolled through the quarterfinals, sweeping their opponents from Wheaton College. They won in doubles again, this time by a score of 8-3, and Vincent picked up her first collegiate singles victory, 6-4, 6-2 over Maya Brenna. Hepburn also won in singles, 6-0, 6-1 over Haylee Doiron. 

While they fell short as a team in the semifinals, Hepburn kept it rolling with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Smith College's Sophia Dube.

The Bobcats also entered a team in the A Flight, with sophomore Iris Westmoreland (New Orleans, La.) and sophomore Ava Steinberger (Hockessin, Del.) taking on some of the top teams in the tournament. They fell to a tough Tufts squad in the first round before battling a duo from Williams in the consolation quarterfinals. Westmoreland impressed, taking her opponent to the maximum three sets, before falling just short, 7-5, 2-6, 10-7.

The New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament marks the final tournament of the fall for Bates women's tennis. The Bobcats return to action in February for the start of their spring schedule.

Fall Highlights

• Elise Hepburn led the team in singles wins with five.
• Ava Lyon is second, picking up four singles wins in the fall, and is tied for the team lead with three doubles wins, all with different partners.
• Olivia Gidlow is third with three singles wins, and ties Lyon for the team lead with three doubles wins, including at No. 1 with Iris Westmoreland vs. Nichols.
• Hepburn, Lyon and Gidlow all won a match (singles or doubles) at each event in the fall.
• Westmoreland picked up the Bobcats lone win in 'A' Flight at Bowdoin ITAs, defeating Jade Finestone from Colby.
• Lizzie Frekko was 2-0 vs. Nichols in doubles, and defeated the same player at NEWITT she lost to a week earlier in singles.
• Ava Steinberger picked up the Bobcats' lone doubles win at Bowdoin ITAs (with Ava Lyon) by defeating a Babson duo.
• Mya Vincent captured her first singles and doubles wins as a collegian.
• Drew Williams helped clinch a spot in the 'B' Flight main draw quarterfinals at NEWITT with a doubles win over Nichols (with Lizzie Frekko)