BOSTON, Mass.--UMass Boston women's tennis broke a 3-3 tie by winning each of the final three singles matches, to earn a huge Little East Conference victory in their home and conference opener.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 6, Worcester State 3
(UMass Boston 1-2, Little East 1-0)
(Worcester State University 2-2, Little East 0-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a matchup of two teams picked two spots apart in the Little East Conference Preseason Poll, UMass Boston used a sweep of doubles to earn their first win of the season. After dropping a pair of contests 10 days ago, UMass Boston persevered in a five-hour and five minute match, to defeat the Lancers for the first time since 2011.
Each of the three doubles matches were extremely tight. The Beacons' third doubles pair of Nurcin Celebi (Istanbul, Turkey) and Kathleen Conroy (Quincy, Mass.) opened the match with an 8-5 win. After falling behind early, the Beacons top doubles pair earned an 8-5 victory of their own, as Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) and Logan Smith (Southwick, Mass.) defeated Shelby Jankins and Megan Shepard.
In the final and most tightly contested doubles match, juniors Kelsey Shea (West Bridgewater, Mass.) and Vicky Woytowicz (Springfield, Mass.) held on for a 9-8 (8-6) victory at second doubles to secure the sweep.
The Lancers would turn the tables on the Beacons to begin singles play, as Alexis Silk (fourth singles), Jankins (first singles) and Cassandra Goncalves (fifth singles) all earned two-set wins to tie the match 3-3.
Smith gave the Beacons the lead right back at second singles, as the senior captain earned her first career win at second singles with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Shepard.
Celebi tacked on the all important fifth point at third singles in another of her patented three-set matches. The senior took the first set 6-3, before falling 6-3 to Nathalie Khafaga in the second set. In the final set, Khafaga went up 3-0, only to have Celebi win six of the final seven games to earn a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory.
In the final match of the day, Shea came back from multiple deficits to defeat Olivia Budney 6-7 (7-4), 7-5, with a 10-4 win in the third-set super tiebreaker.
THE NUMBERS GAME
- UMass Boston won their first Little East Conference opener since 2011 when the Beacons downed Rhode Island College 8-1.
- The Beacons victory snapped a three-match losing streak against Worcester State. UMass Boston now stands at 5-7 all-time against Worcester State.
- Saturday's win also marked the Beacons first home opener victory since 2011. The Beacons defeated Newbury College 9-0 in their home opener that season.
- Shea has already doubled her singles victory from last season. The junior is 2-1 this season in sixth singles.
- Celebi earned her first collegiate win in doubles after finishing 0-1 in each of her first two seasons.
NEXT UP
UMass Boston will return to non-conference action Thursday at at 3:30 p.m. when they travel to take on Eastern Nazarene College. The Beacons are 9-3 all-time against the Lions and have won six consecutive matches against Eastern Nazarene.
