White, Martin, Hickey earn victories for Skyhawks

Leah White picked up a pair of victories for the Skyhawks.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (March 15, 2011) – Stonehill College, currently ranked fourth in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional poll, sustained their first defeat of the season Tuesday afternoon with a 6-3 loss to the U.S. Naval Academy at Star Island Resort.

Junior Leah White (Walpole, Mass./Bishop Feehan) won both of her matches to lead Stonehill against Division I Navy. She earned a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Katie Laderer (Norfolk, Va./Norfolk Christian) at No. 3 singles in the Skyhawks’ top singles victory, and White and freshman Kaitlyn Martin (Medway, Mass./Medway) combined for an 8-6 decision over Natalie Houle (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands College Park) and Caitlin Olsen (Los Gatos, Calif./Los Gatos) in the No. 2 doubles slot. White and Martin now own a 14-0 record in doubles competition this season after cruising to an 8-0 win yesterday against Saint Ambrose University.

Martin faced Olsen a second time at No. 5 singles, falling in a tenacious 1-6, 7-6, 0-1 effort. After dropping the first set, Martin rebounded to claim a 7-6 victory (7-5 in the tiebreak) in the second to set up a closely contested 10-point super tiebreak in which Olsen needed 12 points to get past her.

Junior Sarah Hickey (Lee, Mass./Lee) dropped Navy’s Haley Adams (Woodstock, Ga./Etowah) 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 singles to pick up a victory for the Skyhawks, and remains perfect in singles competition through her first two matches of the season. Hickey is a career 35-0 in singles, with today’s match running her record in the No. 6 slot to 3-0.

Stonehill (5-1, 3-0 NE-10) is back in Kissimmee tomorrow to face non-conference opponent Tiffin University at 11:30 a.m.

U.S. Naval Academy 6, Stonehill 3

Singles:
1. Brittney Boucher (USNA) def. Lindsey Herchel (STO) 6-4, 6-3
2. Dye Das (USNA) def. Amy Toegemann (STO) 6-1, 6-2
3. Leah White (STO) def. Katie Laderer (USNA) 6-2, 7-5
4. Natalie Houle (USNA) def. Paige Frost (STO) 6-2, 6-2
5. Caitlin Olsen (USNA) def. Kaitlyn Martin (STO) 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0 (12-10)
6. Sarah Hickey (STO) def. Haley Adams (USNA) 6-1, 6-2

Doubles:
1. Boucher/Darien Sears (USNA) def. Herchel/Jacquelyn Harrow (STO) 8-3
2. White/Martin (STO) def. Houle/Olsen (USNA) 8-6
3. Das/Adams (USNA) def. Toegemann/Chelsea Haedrich (STO) 8-6

(doubles matches played first)