Results

PITTSBURGH – Victoria Bybel (Lancaster/Lancaster Mennonite) got the deciding win at fourth singles as Wilkes University completed its comeback, defeating Ithaca College 5-3 in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Championships on Thursday afternoon at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

The Lady Colonels move on to the second round where they'll face the top seed in the region, eighth-ranked Washington and Lee University.

Wilkes started off strong, as Ally Kristofco (Hollidaysburg, PA/Bishop Guilfoyle) and Alexis Donner (Belmar, NJ/Wall) got an 8-4 win at second doubles over the Bombers Becky Campbell and Melanie Cohen. Katie Lynn (Berwick, PA/Berwick) and Anna Mitchell (Montclair, NJ/Montclair) then followed that up with an 8-3 win at the third spot of Laurel Salladay and Kelsey Harness.

Ithaca's Cristina and Melissa Nunez got the best of Melanie Nolt (Manheim, PA/Manheim Central) and Bybel at No. 1, winning 8-5, as the Lady Colonels took a 2-1 lead into singles play.

Rain would take the rest of the match indoors, as back-to-back wins by Ithaca at the first two singles spots gave the Bombers a 3-2 lead. The Lady Colonels responded, as Rebekah Shanaman (Richland, PA/ELCO) closed out Campbell at No. 6, 6-1, 6-1 and Alexis Donner (Belmar, NJ/Wall) got an easy 6-2, 6-2 win over Salladay at No. 4, as Wilkes took a 4-3 lead.

With Kristofco in the middle of a rally after a first set loss, Bybel finished off Ithaca with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Harness as the Lady Colonels locked up the comeback victory, their second NCAA tournament win in program history, moving on to the second round.

The Lady Colonels (16-1) match with Washington and Lee is set for a 1:00 p.m. start time on Friday.