HOLLAND, Mich. - The Saint Mary's tennis team saw their historic 2023 season come to a close with a hard-fought 5-3 setback against No. 2 seeded Hope on Wednesday evening.

 

After falling behind early, Emma Kealy and Alayna Campbell held serve to stay close in their one doubles matchup. The pair saw their Hope counterparts take the next four games before Kealy and Campbell came up on the short end of an 8-2 final. 

 

Lucy Chamberlin and Leah Hosang went to deuce and held serve to open their two doubles match. Trailing 3-1, Hosang held serve as the pair pulled within 3-2 and continued to keep close at 4-3. The pair worked to try to continue to hold serve but came up short after the game went to deuce to make it 6-3 in favor of Hope. The pair kept battling and trailed 7-4 but ultimately were unable to make the comeback in an 8-4 final.

 

Kalyn Borger and Evelyn Demblans-Dechans had an epic three doubles match from start to finish. Borger held serve after the game went to deuce, and the pair broke serve to gain a 2-1 lead. After having their serve broken, Borger and Demblans-Dechans returned the favor to lead 3-2. Borger again held serve for a 4-2 lead, and the pair battled back from trailing with Demblans-Dechans serving two games later to take a 5-3 advantage. After making the switch, Borger held serve in commanding fashion as the pair went ahead 6-4. With the score tied 6-6 after a tight game, the pair again broke serve to go up 7-6. Their Hope counterparts then broke serve to knot the score at 7-7 to force a seven-point tiebreaker. After dropping the first point, Borger and Demblans-Dechans rattled off the next three points in-a-row. Their opponents responded with four consecutive points, but the pair were undeterred and came right back with a point to knot the score at 4-4. Demblans-Dechans had a well-placed lob fall in to put the Belles up 5-4, and Borger hit a forehand winner up the line to give the tandem a 6-4 lead. The Hope pairing took the next point, but Borger and Demblans-Dechans prevailed after an overhead shot by Borger was returned long and out of bounds for the 7-5 win.

 

The momentum of that big doubles win carried over early into singles play for the Belles as five of the six flights saw Saint Mary's players take the opening games in their matches. Several long points barely went the other way for Alayna Campbell in a 6-0, 6-0 setback at two singles, but Leah Hosang made the overall match score 3-2 after powering her way to a 6-0, 6-2 win at four singles. Emma Kealy came up short in a 6-2, 6-2 final at three singles. 

 

Evelyn Demblans-Dechans held, broke, and held serve to go up 3-1 in her opening set before taking a 6-4 decision in the opener at six singles. The freshman gained an early lead in the second set, battled through to break serve for a 4-2 lead, and ultimately broke serve to capture a 6-2 win in the set to make the match 4-3 overall with two matches still playing. 

 

Kathleen McLeod and Lucy Chamberlin were both in tight matches at five and one singles, respectively. McLeod went ahead 3-0 only to see the opening stanza go to 3-3. The senior came right back to hold serve for a 4-3 lead, fought to push the next game to deuce before breaking serve for a 5-3 lead, and held serve for a 6-3 win in the opener. At the same time, Chamberlin had several lengthy points in her one singles competition in a closely-played 6-2 setback in the opening set. McLeod fell behind in her second set and ultimately came up short in a 6-3 score as her match moved to a third set. Chamberlin held serve to knot the score 2-2 and went ahead 3-2 before back-to-back games by her Hope opponent saw the lead flip hands 4-3. The senior battled back to tie the set 4-4 before gaining a 5-4 lead. At the same time, McLeod and her opponent were trading games back-and-forth as the senior held serve to stay within a game while trailing 4-3. Chamberlin's opponent took the next two games at one singles for a 7-5 decision to take the fifth point of the match for Hope, and McLeod's match ended in an unfinished result with the match being decided in a competition which lasted nearly three hours.

 

The Belles finish their season with a 17-3 overall record - their most wins in a single season under head coach Dale Campell - while making their eighth consecutive top-four MIAA Tournament.