The Patriot League Tennis Championships were played at Colgate’s J.W Abrahamson Memorial Courts and the Colgate women’s team performed well to protect its home court. The Raiders downed rival Lehigh in the quarterfinals before losing to top-seeded Army in the semi-finals.

Against Lehigh, seniors Elise DeRose and Samantha Inacker won their singles matches to clinch the victory for the Raiders. DeRose defeated senior Julie Arthofer, 6-4, 7-6, in the first singles match and Inacker followed with a victory over her opponent, 6-4, 5-7, 6-0. The other win in singles was from sophomore Stephanie Brown. She swept her opponent, 6-1, 6-3 at the fifth singles position.

During doubles play, senior Jackie Stimmel and first-year Merideth Rock defeated Lehigh junior Kiera Murasko-Blank and first-year Abby Pearl, 8-2. Following the winning ways, the duo of seniors DeRose and Cameron Williams

defeated their opponents to give the Raiders the doubles point.

In the semi-finals, the fourth-seeded Raiders met the top-seeded Army. Even though they could not pull out the win, Head Coach Bobby Pennington was satisfied with the effort.

“The final score was definitely misleading. The girls battled Army tougher than we have in a long time. I was really pleased with how the team as a whole played today,” Coach Pennington said.

Army won both the second and the third doubles match to claim the point. Inacker and sophomore Stephanie Bender were unable to win their match, and partners Stimmel and Rock were also not able to pull out the win.

In singles action, DeRose lost to Army junior Anne Houghton, 6-3, 6-0, at the number one position. Army also won in the second, third and fourth positions. Williams lost 6-1, 6-1, at the third spot and Stimmel dropped her fourth singles match to Army junior Michael Tollerton 6-2, 6-1.

The women’s team closed out the 2010 season with an overall record of 9-7.