The Lancaster Bible College women's tennis team ended its season on a high note on Saturday and Sunday, as four players won North Eastern Athletic Conference Championships during the individual portion of the 2019 NEAC Championships.
 
In addition to the victories, and NEAC All-Conference honors, Lancaster Bible freshman Kayla Hubbard was named Co-NEAC Rookie of the Year, as she was terrific in both singles and doubles play during her first season in Lancaster.


 
How it Happened: Greta Strunk and Kayla Hubbard kicked things off on Saturday by earning the program's first-ever NEAC Doubles Championship, as they won the NEAC Flight No. 1 title, by defeating Michelle Mirjani and Marta Tymchenko of Penn St. Abington, 8-6. The pair finished 5-3 overall in doubles action this season, while Hubbard collected 10 doubles wins total this season. The victory placed Strunk and Hubbard on the NEAC All-Conference First Team.
 
The Flight No. 2 pair of Michaela Dearborn and Haylee Fishel won their first match, 8-4 over a team from Penn St. Berks, but came up just short in the championship, as they lost, 8-7 (7-5) to a team from Penn St. Abington. For their efforts, the pair earned NEAC All-Conference Second Team honors.
 
The Flight No. 3 team of Sarah Wetzel and Kenedi Berkhimer also earned a spot in the championship, as they defeated a team from Penn St. Berks, 8-3 in the semifinals, but lost to Michelle Ly and Jenny Vuong, 8-3 in the final. Like the No. 2 team, Wetzel and Berkhimer earned NEAC All-Conference Second Team honors with their appearance in the championship.
 
In singles action, Strunk's two-year run as NEAC Champion was ended in the semifinal round, as she was upset in the semifinals of the Flight No. 1 Tournament by Penn St. Berks' Alyssa Miller, 2-6, 6-3, 10-5. Strunk had defeated Miller in last year's NEAC Final, but it was Miller who earned the win this year, and she went on to win the NEAC Championship, as she defeated Gissel Escalante from St. Elizabeth. Strunk rebounded in the consolation match, and beat Stephanie Jin from Penn St. Abington, 8-3.
 
Dearborn won her semifinal match in the Flight No. 2 Tournament, as she defeated Lexi Vidal of Penn St. Berks, 6-3, 6-4. Dearborn couldn't overcome Mirjani from Penn St. Abington though, and lost, 6-1, 6-0.  Hubbard earned a 6-2, 6-2 win in the semifinal round of the Flight No. 3 Tournament, but like Dearborn, lost in the final, as she fell, 6-3, 6-3.
 
Fishel finished off her tremendous season by winning the NEAC Flight No. 4 Tournament, as she defeated Vuong, 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals, and then took down Nicole Meek of Penn St. Berks, 7-6, 3-6, 10-8, to become the program's second-ever NEAC Women's Tennis Champion. Fishel finished the year with a singles record of 11-3.
 
Wetzel dropped a tough match, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 in the Flight No. 5 Tournament semifinals, but rebounded to defeat Marcie Harman of Penn College, 8-2 in the consolation match.
 
Joining Fishel as a NEAC Champion was Kenedi Berkhimer, who won the NEAC Flight No. 6 title, by winning, 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals, and then earning a marathon victory in the final, as she outlasted Ly, 6-3, 0-6, 12-10. Strunk, Fishel and Berkhimer are now the only Lancaster Bible players to ever win NEAC Championships.