Vo is one of three unbeaten Skyhawks this fall, earning NE-10 Rookie of the Year honors and first team All-Conference. |
Top-seeded Skyhawks aim to add sixth tournament championship to its seventh regular season title
NE-10 Women's Tennis Championship Central
Bentley at Stonehill Game Program (PDF)
EASTON, Mass. (October 20, 2016) – Top-seeded and Northeast-10 Conference regular season champions Stonehill College, ranked sixth in the most recent Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional rankings, opens its Conference record 18th appearance in the NE-10 Tournament when it hosts fourth-seeded Bentley University in semifinal round action at Charles Watt Tennis Courts on Friday at 1 p.m.
Admission for the NE-10 semifinals is free of charge. Live updates will be available via Twitter from @SkyhawkTalk and @HillWTennis. Stonehill (11-2, 11-1 NE-10), which is making its NE-10 record 18th NE-10 Tournament appearance, looks to advance to the NE-10 Championship match for the third straight year and eighth time over the last nine years, having played in the final ten times overall after finishing as runners-up to Adelphi University, this year's No. 6-seed, last fall. The Skyhawks, which captured their seventh NE-10 regular season title this season, aims to add a sixth tournament title and win both crowns in the same season for the third time in program history and first since completing the championship double in 2009. Stonehill has also won the postseason championship in 2013 and 2014 to go with titles in 1991 and 1992 under the old flighted points system before the league switched to its present dual match tournament format in 1999.
Stonehill earned a first round bye as the top seed this week, however, Bentley (9-4, 8-4 NE-10) advanced to Friday's semifinal with a 5-3 victory over fifth-seeded Merrimack College (8-5, 8-4 NE-10) in Wednesday's first round, rallying from a 2-1 deficit following doubles play, with junior Corrie MacLean (Trumbull, Connecticut/Trumbull) and freshman Tiffany Suchanek (Waterville, Maine/Waterville) earning the Falcons lone doubles point at No. 3. Sophomore Hannah Fabianski (Pawcatuck, Connecticut/Stonington) led four singles winners for the Falcons with her 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 2.
Barbetta will lead the Skyhawks at No. 1 singles and doubles. |
Stonehill posted a 7-2 victory over Bentley in the regular season meeting between the two back on September 9. Freshman Alexandra Vo (Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania/Nazareth Academy) and sophomore Nicole Downey (Groveland, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional) were both double-winners to lead the Skyhawks to victory. Vo combined with classmate Annelise Howick (Jacksonville, Florida/Creekside) for an 8-6 decision at No. 2 doubles, while Downey and junior Emma Prinos (Foxboro, Massachusetts/Foxboro) delivered an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles.
Vo added a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 2 singles against Fabianski, while Downey defeated freshman Katie Tynan (West Barnstable, Massachusetts/Barnstable) 6-4, 6-2 at No. 4 singles. Tynan and senior Rachel Petrini (Madison, Connecticut/Daniel Hand) teamed up for an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles for Bentley, while senior Susan Stowe (Hebron, Connecticut/RHAM) collected a win at No. 5 singles.
Stonehill is led by a trio of players who have yet to drop an NE-10 singles match yet this fall. Vo, the Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year and one of three All-NE-10 first team honorees, is a combined 20-5 in singles and doubles play in her first collegiate season. She is a perfect 12-0 in singles play, including a 10-0 clip at No. 2 singles, with all 12 wins coming in NE-10 play. She is 8-5 in doubles play with four different playing partners, including a 5-2 clip at No. 1 with junior Victoria Barbetta (Wesley Chapel, Florida/Saddlebrook Prep).
Downey owns an 18-1 record in NE-10 singles matches over her two seasons at Stonehill after winning all 11 of her singles matches this fall. An All-NE-10 third team performer at No. 5 singles and All-Rookie team pick as a freshman, Downey owns a career combined record of 63-15 in singles and doubles play over her first two seasons, including a combined 35-4 clip in NE-10 play. In addition to her 11-0 singles mark this fall, she has posted an 8-3 doubles record with three different playing partners, including a 7-2 mark with Prinos.
O'Donnell is unbeaten in two seasons of NE-10 singles matches. |
Junior Colleen O'Donnell (Waterville, Maine/Waterville), a three-time All-Northeast-10 first team performer and for the second time at No. 6 singles this fall, rounds out Stonehill undefeated singles players with a 10-0 mark, including 7-0 at No. 6. She has yet to lose a singles match in NE-10 play over her two seasons with the team, posting a perfect 19-0 record. O'Donnell is a combined 16-3 in singles and doubles play this fall, posting a 6-3 doubles record with five different playing partners, including 6-2 in NE-10 matches.
Prinos rounds out Stonehill's three All-Northeast-10 first team performers this fall, posting a combined 16-4 record in singles and doubles play. She is 7-2 in singles play, including 7-1 in the NE-10, with a 4-1 mark at No. 5, to go with a 9-2 doubles record (all NE-10) with three different playing partners. Barbetta, a two-time All-Conference performer over her career, and freshman Carolina Alvarez (Orlando, Florida/Freedom) round out the Skyhawks singles lineup.
Bentley, making its 15th appearance in the NE-10 Tournament, seeks its fourth trip to the final and an elusive first championship. Stowe and Brandow both earned third team All-Northeast-10 honors for the Falcons this fall, while Tynan was named to the All-Rookie Team. Stowe is a combined 9-4 in singles and doubles play this season, posting a 7-3 singles record, including 6-2 at No. 5. Brandow is a combined 11-7 in singles and doubles play, posting a 7-1 singles mark, including 4-1 at No. 6. Tynan is a combined 10-7 in her first collegiate season, posting a 5-3 singles record. Fabianski has posted a 7-5 singles record this fall, while Petrini and Suchanek round out Bentley's singles lineup.
Sixth-seeded Adelphi (9-4, 8-4 NE-10) and No. 2-seed Southern New Hampshire University (12-2, 10-2 NE-10) square off in the other NE-10 semifinal on Friday morning. The two semifinal winners will advance to Sunday's NE-10 Championship match at the home of the highest remaining seed at 1 p.m.
For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Fans can also download the Stonehill Skyhawks "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.
2016 Northeast-10 Conference
Women's Tennis Tournament
First Round
Wednesday, October 19
#6 Adelphi 5, #4 Assumption 3
#4 Bentley 5, #5 Merrimack 3
Semifinal
Friday, October 21
#6 Adelphi (9-4, 8-4 NE-10) at #2 Southern New Hampshire (12-2, 10-2 NE-10), 9 a.m.
#4 Bentley (9-4, 8-4 NE-10) at #1 Stonehill (11-2, 11-1 NE-10), 1 p.m.
Championship
Sunday, October 23
Semifinal winners at highest remaining seed, 1 p.m.
