Vo, the NE-10 Rookie of the Year, will line up at No. 1 doubles and No. 2 singles on Sunday. |
Top-seeded Skyhawks hosts Panthers in NE-10 Championship Sunday at 1 p.m.
NE-10 Women's Tennis Championship Central
Adelphi at Stonehill NE-10 Championship Game Program (PDF)
EASTON, Mass. (October 22, 2016) – Top-seeded Stonehill College, ranked sixth in the most recent Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Regional rankings, looks to complete a Northeast-10 Conference Championship sweep for the fourth time in program history as it hosts sixth-seeded Adelphi University, ranked fifth in the region, for the NE-10 Tournament Championship at Charles Watt Tennis Courts on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Admission for the NE-10 Championship is free of charge, with live results available via stonehillskyhawks.com and updates on Twitter from @SkyhawkTalk. In the event of inclement weather, the match will be played inside the Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex at 1 p.m. The winner of tomorrow's match will also claim the NE-10's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament next spring in addition an NE-10 Championship.
Stonehill (12-2, 11-1 NE-10), which is making its NE-10 record 18th NE-10 Tournament appearance, has reached the championship match for the third straight year and eighth time over the last nine, with its NE-10 record 11th finals trip overall. The Skyhawks, which captured their seventh NE-10 regular season title this season, aims to add their 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 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.
Adelphi (10-4, 8-4 NE-10) is in the Northeast-10 Tournament for the seventh straight year since joining the Conference in 1999, looking to successfully defend its lone NE-10 tournament championship when it posted a 5-2 win over Stonehill last year. The Panthers are in the NE-10 final for the third time overall. Stefani Lineva posted wins in both doubles and singles play to lead Adelphi to the championship win over Stonehill last fall. She provided the deciding point with her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Stonehill's Bailey Paradiso at No. 1 singles after she and Sophomore Karen Serina (East Islip, New York/East Islip) also combined for an 8-3 decision at No. 1 doubles for the Panthers, who took two of three doubles matches to set the tone for the match.
Alvarez was a double-winner in Friday's NE-10 semifinal win over Bentley. |
After earning a first round bye as the top seed in the NE-10 Tournament, Stonehill opened with a 5-0 sweep of fourth-seeded Bentley University in Friday's semifinal round. Freshman Carolina Alvarez (Orlando, Florida/Freedom) led the Skyhawks as a double-winner, combining with classmate Annelise Howick (Jacksonville, Florida/Creekside) for an 8-5 decision at No. 3 doubles, before providing the deciding point with a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles. Junior Colleen O'Donnell (Waterville, Maine/Waterville) also provided a point for the Skyhawks with her 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles, while junior Victoria Barbetta (Wesley Chapel, Florida/Saddlebrook Prep) and freshman Alexandra Vo (Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania/Nazareth Academy) set the tone for a doubles sweep with a dominant 8-1 win at No. 1.
Adelphi has reached the final with a pair of road wins from the bottom seed in the tournament, starting with a 5-3 win at No. 3-seed Assumption College on Wednesday and then posting a 5-1 triumph at No. 2-seed Southern New Hampshire University on Friday night. Junior Rebecca Fakas (Little Neck, New York/Benjamin N. Cardozo) led the Panthers past Southern New Hampshire with wins at No. 1 singles and doubles. She combined with Serina for an 8-2 doubles win and then claimed a 6-4, 6-4 win over NE-10 Player of the Year Abla Chadli. Fakas was also a double-winner in the Panthers first round win at Assumption.
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 for the Skyhawks, is a combined 21-5 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 9-5 in doubles play with four different playing partners, including a 6-2 clip with Barbetta.
O'Donnell, a three-time All-Northeast-10 first team performer and for the second time at No. 6 singles this fall, has posted an 11-0 mark, including 8-0 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 20-0 record. O'Donnell is a combined 17-3 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.
O'Donnell carries a 20-0 record in NE-10 singles matches into tomorrow's final. |
Sophomore Nicole Downey (Groveland, Massachusetts/Pentucket Regional) 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 64-15 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 a 9-3 doubles record with three different playing partners, including an 8-2 mark with junior Emma Prinos (Foxboro, Massachusetts/Foxboro).
Prinos rounds out Stonehill's three All-Northeast-10 first team performers this fall, posting a combined 17-4 record in singles and doubles play. She has recorded a 7-2 mark in singles play, including 7-1 in the NE-10, with a 4-1 clip at No. 5, to go with a 10-2 doubles record (all NE-10) with three different playing partners.
Sophomore Samantha Perri (Floral Park, New York/Floral Park Memorial) is a first team All-Northeast-10 performer at singles and doubles for Adelphi. She is a combined 27-1 in singles and doubles play this season, winning all 14 of her singles matches, including a 12-0 mark at No. 4. She and junior Elizabeth Kallenberg (Port Washington, New York/Paul D. Schreiber) combined to earn first team All-NE-10 honors at No. 2 doubles, posting an 8-1 mark.
Fakas and Serina are both second team All-Northeast-10 performers in singles and doubles play. The duo have posted an 8-1 mark at No. 1 doubles, while Fakas is 13-1 overall this season in singles play, including 11-1 in NE-10 matches and Serina is 12-2, including 10-2 in the NE-10.
Adelphi handed Stonehill its lone NE-10 loss of the fall just two weeks ago with a 5-4 decision on Long Island. Fakas and Serina led three double-winners for Adelphi, which claimed a 2-1 edge after doubles play and made it stand through the six singles matches. The duo earned the doubles advantage for the Panthers with their 9-7 victory at No. 1 over Barbetta and Vo. Serina followed that up with a back and forth 6-1, 5-7, 6-0 victory at No. 3 singles against Alvarez, while Fakas registered a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles against Barbetta. Downey posted singles and doubles wins to lead Stonehill, teaming up with Prinos for an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles and then followed that up with a 6-2, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles against Adelphi junior Vanja Savic (Woodside, New York/Beacon School).
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 5, #2 Southern New Hampshire 1
#1 Stonehill 5, #4 Bentley 0
Championship
Sunday, October 23
#6 Adelphi (10-4, 8-4 NE-10) at #1 Stonehill (12-2, 11-1 NE-10), 1 p.m.
