Women's Tennis | 10/14/2025 11:58:00 PM
TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The 2025 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Women's Tennis Tournament started Tuesday with the two higher seeds, No. 3 Franciscan University and No. 4 Washington & Jefferson College, securing home quarterfinal victories to advance to Thursday's semifinals.
The Presidents knocked off fifth-seeded Geneva College 4-2 and move on to play the top seed and defending champion Allegheny College (10-0) Thursday at 4 pm in Meadville. For Franciscan, their 4-0 sweep over No. 6 Saint Vincent College puts them into the semifinal at second-seeded Grove City College (8-3), also on Thursday with a 3 pm first serve.
The semifinal winners will play in the PAC Tournament Championship Match, which is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18th at the highest remaining seed.
In W&J's quarterfinal win, the Presidents (10-3) started off the match with a hard-fought doubles point to go up, 1-0. The two teams split the first two doubles matches, with Geneva (7-7) winning at first doubles 6-3 and W&J taking third doubles, 6-1. The point was decided when the Presidents' freshmen tandem of Bella Graham (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) and Maya Hamade (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) came away with a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles.
The Presidents moved within a point of the win with victories at No. 3 singles (6-2, 6-0) by freshman Keiran Moorhead (Canonsburg, Pa./Peters Township) and Hamade (6-2, 6-2) at No. 4 singles. Geneva stayed alive thanks to straight-set wins by sophomore Chloe DeSanzo (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) at No. 1 (6-3, 6-2) and senior Lauren Estes (Chattanooga, Tenn./Grace Baptist Academy) at No. 2 (6-2, 6-4). But W&J would secure their first conference tournament win since the 2020-21 season when freshman Austyn Paugh (Jane Lew, W.Va./Notre Dame) won at No. 6 singles by a 7-5, 6-1 score.
W&J, whose 10 wins is their most since 2019, which is the last time the Presidents won the PAC championship, will face Allegheny in the first match-up between the programs in the PAC Tournament. The Gators won the regular season meeting between the teams 7-0 in Washington on Oct. 8
Franciscan (9-2), who has played in the PAC Tournament semifinals every year since joining the conference, made it six years in a row after sweeping Saint Vincent (9-7). The doubles point was quickly earned by the Barons, thanks to a 6-0 win at No. 3 by junior Maggie Gallagher (Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep) and junior Elizabeth Swift (Butler, Pa./Aquinas Academy) and a 6-2 victory at No. 2 by junior Jordan Beltavski (Chardon, Ohio/The Lyceum) and freshman Colette Park (Alexandria, Va./Seton Home Study).
Once singles play opened, Franciscan made quick work in the bottom three flights. Park won her second match of the day 6-1, 6-1 at fourth singles, which was the same score sophomore Sophia Pastura (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) won at fifth singles. Senior Lauren Schoenberger (Upper Sandusky, Ohio/Upper Sandusky) completed the win with a 6-0, 6-0 decision at sixth singles.
The Barons will next face a Grove City team they see often in the PAC Tournament. This will be the sixth consecutive season the programs have played in the semifinals. Franciscan has a 4-1 record in the previous five meetings, including last year when the sixth-seeded Barons pulled off a 4-3 upset at Grove City. The Wolverines did win this year's regular season match-up between the teams by a 6-1 count in Grove City on Sept. 29.