BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Tennis team prepares for a revenge game against the team that ended their spring season, Nichols College, for a duel in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinals round on Thursday afternoon. It is the 18^th consecutive trip to the CCC Semifinals for the Hawks, but they seek to punch their ticket to the finals for the first time since 2015.
 
"Our team has had a great regular season," said Head Coach Barry Gorman. "The women are very excited for the postseason. We have been working all season for this and are excited to compete for a conference championship."
 
The Hawks went 11-1 in the regular season including 6-1 in CCC play before rolling through Western New England University in the quarterfinals to advance and get a chance at redemption against the Bison who handed RWU their only loss in the regular season. Nichols, meanwhile, went 8-3, 6-1 against conference competition. They received the #2 seed following a three-way tie coin flip rewarded Endicott College with the top seed and they subsequently held the tiebreaker over RWU.
 
For The Hawks
Roger Williams flexes depth with strong players up and down their lineup as is evidenced by all seven of their starters earning a spot on an All-CCC team. So far this season, the Hawks have been able to outscore their opponents 104-10, and they do so by jumping in front early in doubles play, outscoring their opponents 36-3, before finishing the opposition in singles play where they are 67-7.
 
"We have been playing strong in our doubles which has given us a great start in our matches," Gorman said. "In addition, singles play has been equally as strong for us which has been great for our team."
 
For the Hawks, it starts with their All-CCC First Team pairing of juniors Emma Place (Francestown, N.H.) and Alessia Cahoon (Dedham, Mass.). Individually, the two have been phenomenal this season with Place going 8-4 in the top flight for RWU, and Cahoon sitting at 12-1 primarily at the singles #2 spot. They have been equally dominant together in doubles play, where they have teamed up to go 11-1 as Roger Williams' top doubles pairing.
 
The top half of RWU's singles lineup features another first team all-conference member in freshman Gianna Ferraro (Westerly, R.I.). She earned the recognition this fall after going undefeated in 11 matches, primarily at the #3 flight. In doubles, she has teamed up with Olivia Santoro (Cheshire, Conn.) for much of the season and they have gone 11-1 together this season and made the All-CCC Third Team for their efforts.
 
Roger Williams has also benefited from the strong play of fellow freshman Gracie McCarthy (Marion, Mass.). McCarthy earned all-conference second team recognition this season after going 12-0 this season playing mostly at singles #5. She is also unblemished in doubles play where she and Kate Hardy (Southington, Conn.) have gone 11-0 this fall in the third flight and earned All-CCC Third Team honors for their efforts. The pairing has been rolling lately and are currently on a run that has them seen them win 48 of their last 56 sets.
 
Alexa DiCesare (Norwood, Mass.) will slot in a singles #4 for RWU where she has gone 10-1 on the year, earning all-conference third team honors. Santoro rounds out the Hawks' singles lineup at singles #6 and joined DiCesare on the All-CCC Third Team after going 11-1.
 
For The Bison
Nichols College features a lineup that can match the Hawks depth in addition to their quality at the top. This fall, they have outscored their opponents 79-34 overall. In doubles they are 31-17 as a team this season and are 48-17 in singles.
 
"We are expecting a tough match from them," Gorman said. "Doubles will be key. We are hoping to come out of doubles with a lead which will help going into singles. We are ready to fight for every point and play smart tennis."
 
The Bison are led by possibly the top tennis player in the conference in Antonia Carrero (Hamburg, Germany). She earned conference Player and Rookie of the Year honors this fall after going a combined 21-2 overall. She was the top singles player for the Bison this season going 9-1 while she finished 12-1 in doubles play, mostly in the second flight alongside Kelley Carlin (Brewster, Mass.).
 
The most frequent pairing in the top flight of doubles for Nichols this season has Kara Stankewitz (Cologne, Germany) and Isabella Winter (Nokomis, Fla.) as they have gone 4-5 this fall. Individually, Stankewitz has been the most common option at singles #2 and is 8-2 this season. Winter will likely also start in singles but she has flip-flopped between the second and third flights going 3-3 overall.
 
At doubles #3, Nichols will likely start Johanna Schroeder (Mexico City, Mexico) and Jordan Knowles (Schenectady, N.Y.) and they have teamed up to go 5-1 on the season. Schroeder will factor in somewhere in the lineup for singles play for the Bison, most likely in the fourth slot after going 9-2 this year. Knowles has also seen action in singles, and she is 4-4 on the season most often in singles #5.
 
The Bison have a few options throughout their singles lineup. What is known is that Carrero will play in the top spot and after that it is most likely that they will go with Winter, Stankewitz, and Schroeder in that order, though those three spots have remained fluid this season for Nichols. Knowles is the most likely option in the fifth flight while they have had six different players compete in singles #6 this season. Their most common option this fall has been Camila Magrin (Franca, Sao Paulo) who is 7-1 in singles play this year.
 
Previous Meetings
The Roger Williams vs Nichols rivalry in Women's Tennis is one that has existed for a long time, and all-time they are even with 16 wins each. However, Nichols holds the advantage lately winning the last two matches including in the CCC Quarterfinals last season and again back on September 25^th when they beat the Hawks 6-3 in Dudley, Mass. In that matchup RWU won the top matchup in doubles along with singles #3 and #6 but the Bison came away victorious in doubles #2 and #3 as well as singles #1, #2, #4, and #5.
 
How To Follow Along
The match begins at 2:00 PM on the campus of Nichols College in Dudley, Mass.
 
If you cannot make it in person, you can follow along online.
 
VIDEO: https://nicholsathletics.com/sports/2016/10/24/tennis-webcast.aspx
 
LIVE STATS: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vS0AgnaHFiK2hWWHAJf28Kn5hf2GNgT3szIKI7-0hfU0bZpotS2u4voNNWonf4FKUwGgTLcoVizr2FQ/pubhtml