The Lions women's tennis squad defeated Rutgers University-Newark Scarlet Raiders, 9-0, Thursday.
In their first home match in almost a month, the Lions dominated the court.
They boasted shutouts in three doubles and five singles matches and achieved their 98th consecutive win of more than two seasons.
First up in doubles were sophomores Jackie Gavornik and Kristen Klepacki, second doubles were freshmen Kristen Turturiello and Karen Shih and third doubles were freshman Jackie Pryzbylkowski and senior Kelli Emery.
Klepacki and Gavornik hold a 27-4 record as a doubles team.
First singles Klepacki, second singles Gavornik, third singles junior Katie D'Amato, fourth singles freshman Turturiello, fifth singles freshman Ayumi Yamazaki and sixth singles Shih all had outstanding performances on the court.
Save one 6-1 set in second singles, the Lions shut out their competitors.
Head coach Scott Dicheck said the Lions performed well. They "played hard and stayed focused" throughout the entire match, he said.
"The secret to the success we've had so far has been our chemistry," Klepacki said.
Gavornik and Klepacki won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Doubles Title during Regionals at William Smith College.
The two will head to the 2003 ITA Small College National Championships held from Oct. 16-18 in Corpus Christi, Texas, and they each will earn an ITA All American title.
Gavornik and Klepacki earned the only spot from this region and will compete against eight other doubles couples for the national title.
Gavornik said she is "very excited" for the opportunity to compete on such a high level.
"It was a very tough draw" Dicheck said. "They played better match after match."
In fact, the Lions beat a "player ranked as high as number two in the country in Division III tennis" Dicheck said.
This will be the second consecutive trip to Nationals for the women's tennis team.
Upcoming Match
Next for the Lions women is their match against the Haverford College Fords tonight at 4 p.m. They travel to Richard Stockton College Oct. 9, at 3:30 p.m.
Klepacki said it will be a test, but is confident they are ready for what she calls their "greatest competition yet."
