WEST CHESTER, Pa. - With a stirring effort and a nail-biting finish, the Millersville women's tennis team, with just five healthy players, knocked off the PSAC East's top-seed West Chester 4-3 Wednesday to advance to the PSAC Championship match for the first time since 2004. 

Less than two weeks ago, West Chester clinched the PSAC East title with a 5-2 win over Millersville. And that was before the Marauders lost a starter and reserve, forcing Coach Matt Helsel to shuffle his lineup. Forfeiting No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles, Millersville had no margin for error in Wednesday's PSAC Semifinal, and the match came down to the final court and an epic three-set thriller featuring Millersville junior Jasmine Morris and West Chester sophomore Tori Alexander. Alexander beat Morris in a three-set decision in the first meeting of the season, but Morris, who played primarily at No. 5 singles a year ago and moved into that top spot out of necessity in 2021, delivered perhaps the performance of her career to clinch the historic win for the Marauders. 

Not only will the Marauders now play for the PSAC Championship Saturday at Indiana (Pa.), they snapped a seven-match losing streak to West Chester, defeating the Golden Rams for the first time since 2013. The win is also symbolic of the program's dramatic turnaround under Helsel. In 2016-17, he inherited a program that had finished under .500 for nine-straight seasons and won just seven total matches in his two seasons. But over the last two abbreviated seasons, the Marauders have gone 14-7, and their 8-4 record this spring is its best since 2004-05. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Taking into account the forfeits, Millersville needed to reverse at least one doubles result and two singles results. Playing short-handed, Millersville bumped Maria Ojeda up to No. 1 doubles with Julie Wallace and also up to No. 3 singles. Kelsey Heckert moved up to No. 4 singles, and Lauren Weaver moved to No. 5 singles. Wallace and Ojeda had teamed together just once before, and that resulted in a loss in the PSAC Quarterfinal. But against West Chester, Wallace and Ojeda scored a 6-4 win over Alexander and Elaina Lee, and Morris and Heckert won 6-3 in the No. 2 flight to score the doubles point for the Marauders. 
• With the forfeit at No. 6 singles and a win at No. 5 singles, West Chester took a 2-1 lead in the match. Ojeda evened the score with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Leandra Roelker at No. 3 singles. West Chester's Davica Massaro outlasted Wallace in three sets to give West Chester a 3-2 edge with two courts still playing. 
• But Millersville's two most veteran players delivered. Heckert, nearly unbeatable all season, won for the 10th time in 11 matches, edging Lee, 6-4, 7-5. That left Morris and Alexander as the deciding match. Alexander took the first set 7-5, but Morris rallied to win 7-5 in the second. Morris then won a back-and-forth third set, 7-5 to send Millersville to the conference championship. 

POST-MATCH REACTION FROM COACH MATT HELSEL
• On the team's mentality entering the match: "We really felt loose because we knew we weren't 'supposed' to win, but yet we knew we could. We don't fear that team at all. We decided we would be aggressive and attack and see what happens."
• On the the key to victory: "The key on every court, with every player, was commitment and belief. They're committed to each other and they believe if they give it their best, good things will happen."
• On the feeling watching the final court: "For Jasmine, it was an incredible effort. And while it was so nerve-wracking to watch, we knew she could do it. We liked that match-up and Jas stepped up and showed why she's our No. 1 player. She's the most selfless player we have. I know she wanted it so bad for her teammates."

NOTES
• Ojeda improved to 8-1 in singles and has won eight in a row. Heckert has won seven in a row. 
• Millersville is now 2-0 all-time against West Chester in PSAC Tournament matches. 
• Millersville has won five PSAC Championships in its history with the last coming in 2002. 

UP NEXT
• The PSAC Championship match with IUP is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 1 at Maple Street Courts in Indiana, Pa. IUP won the PSAC West going 13-3 with a 6-0 divisional record. IUP is making its ninth trip to the championship since 2011 and has two conference titles in that  stretch.