Solorzano Valencia battled to a straight sets win at No. 1 singles for the Skyhawks today |
Skyhawks tune up for Wednesday's NE10 first round match
EASTON, Mass. (October 20, 2019) – Division I Bryant University posted a 5-2 victory over Stonehill College, ranked No. 4 in the most recent Oracle/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division II East Region rankings, in a non-conference women's tennis match at Charles Watt Tennis Courts this afternoon.
Stonehill (9-3, 9-1 NE10), winners of four-straight Northeast-10 Conference regular season championships (ten overall in program history), now turns its attention towards defending its NE10 Tournament title this week. The Skyhawks are seeded third following tiebreakers after finishing tied atop the NE10 regular season standings with Adelphi University and Southern New Hampshire University, and will host sixth-seeded University of New Haven (8-5, 5-5 NE10) for a first round match on Wednesday at 1 p.m. The winner advances to Friday's NE10 semifinal at second-seeded Southern New Hampshire University (11-1, 9-1 NE10). The NE10 Championship match is scheduled for Sunday, October 27, at 1 p.m., hosted by the highest remaining seed. Bryant (2-0, 0-0 NEC) wraps up its fall schedule with today's match and will next host Saint Bonaventure University on January 26.
Following this afternoon's match, Stonehill recognized its four seniors who have been key members of a program that has posted a 52-21 dual match record over their four years so far, including 43-2 in the NE10, with four NE10 regular season championships, winning the 2018 NE10 Tournament title and earning three NCAA Tournament bids to date. This year's senior class includes captains Annelise Howick, Caroline Ray and Alexandra Vo as four-year letterwinners, and two-year member Anastasiya Shyianok.
Head Coach Pam Arpe (center) with seniors (l-r) Anastasiya Shyianok, Annelise Howick, Alexandra Vo and Caroline Ray |
Senior Megan Tan and sophomore Sarah Hickey led four double-winners for Bryant in the match. Hickey teamed up with sophomore Ada Boru to clinch the doubles point for the Bulldogs with their 6-2 win at No. 1. Hickey then followed that up with a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 2 singles against Vo that clinched the match win.
Tan and senior Aleksi Gottlieb battled their way to a 6-4 decision at No. 2 doubles that finished off a sweep of the doubles matches. Tan then added a 6-2, 7-5 victory at No. 3 singles over freshman Steffi Antao. Sophomore Leanne Kendall and freshman Manuela Gomez Estrada rounded out Bryant's double-winners on the afternoon. They teamed up for the Bulldogs first doubles win at No. 3 and then added victories at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively. Kendall held off Ray 6-0, 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, while Gomez Estrada defeated Shyianok 6-2, 6-2. Ray was down 1-5 in the second set, before rallying to force a tiebreaker and then eventually the third set.
Freshman Cristina Solorzano Valencia was impressive in her victory at No. 1 singles against Boru, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3. Sophomore Emma Markaryan also earned a singles win for Stonehill with her 6-3, 6-2 decision over Gottlieb.
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