DARTMOUTH, Mass.—Fourth-seeded UMass Dartmouth took two of three doubles points and earned victories in each of the final three singles slots, to knock off fifth-seeded UMass Boston women's tennis in the Little East Conference Quarterfinals.
THE BASICS
#4 UMass Dartmouth 5, #5 UMass Boston 2
(UMass Boston 6-7, Little East 4-4)
(UMass Dartmouth 9-6, Little East 5-3)
HOW IT HAPPENED
For the second time in three years the Beacons playoff hopes ended in Dartmouth, as UMass Dartmouth earned their 14th-straight win (14-1) over the Beacons.
Sophomore Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) and senior Logan Smith (Southwick, Mass.) paired up for the Beacons' lone doubles point, while Garcia took home the team's only point during singles play.
With their win, #4 UMass Dartmouth will take on top-seeded Rhode Island College, who went 8-0 against LEC foes in the regular season.
UMass Dartmouth opened the match with a dominant 8-1 win at second doubles, before Mollie McCaffrey and Kristen Rose added an 8-4 win at third doubles over Nurcin Celebi (Istanbul, Turkey) and Meghan Erickson (Hubbardston, Mass.).
Smith and Garcia played their second lengthy doubles match of the season against the Corsairs at number one doubles, as the pair held off Jenna Lahaie and Maggie LeBrun 9-7 to keep the Beacons' hopes alive.
UMass Dartmouth retook a two-point lead to start off singles, as Samantha Rollings swept Kelsey Shea (West Bridgewater, Mass.) 6-0, 6-0 at sixth singles.
Garcia answered back with an impressive 6-4, 6-1 win over Lahaie at number one singles. Lahaie had won six-straight matches at number one singles entering the match, including a 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 10-2 win over Garcia on October 8.
UMass Dartmouth earned their final two points at fourth and fifth singles, to take the match 5-2. McCaffrey defeated Erickson 6-0, 6-1 at fifth singles and Rose earned the match-clinching point with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Vicky Woytowicz (Springfield, Mass.).
In the two unfinished matches, the Corsairs held one-set leads and were tied in the second set at second and third singles.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Garcia went a perfect 2-0 in her first collegiate playoff match. She finishes off the fall having won six of her past eight matches.
- Garcia and Smith won each of their final four doubles matches to close out the fall.
- UMass Dartmouth defeated the Beacons by an identical 5-2 score in the 2013 Little East Conference Quarterfinals.
- Despite the loss, UMass Boston still has a chance to complete one of the strongest seasons in program-history. The Beacons need just two wins in the spring (out of 4-5 matches) to finish tied for second in program-history for wins in a season (eight).
WHAT'S NEXT
UMass Boston will have several months off, before returning to match action in March during their Spring Break Trip.
