PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Little East Conference preseason favorite Rhode Island College swept doubles play to earn a 7-2 win over UMass Boston women's tennis Thursday afternoon.
THE BASICS
Rhode Island College 7, UMass Boston 2
(UMass Boston 5-4, Little East 4-2)
(Rhode Island College 8-1, Little East 4-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior Kelsey Shea (West Bridgewater, Mass.) and junior Meghan Erickson (Hubbardston, Mass.) each earned wins in single play for the Beacons. The pair extended their respective singles winning streak to six and five matches in a row.
Rhode Island College raced out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a sweep of doubles play. The host Anchormen notched 8-2 wins at third doubles and first doubles to start play. In second doubles, Isabella Romeo and Laura Cruso held off Shea and Kathleen Conroy (Quincy, Mass.) 8-5 to finish the sweep.
The Anchormen pushed their lead to 4-0 at number three singles, when Laura Nastasi defeated Katie Gauthier (West Boylston, Mass.) 6-3, 6-0.
Julie Reddy clinched the win for Rhode Island College, when she downed Conroy 6-2, 6-1 at second singles.
Rhode Island College made it 6-0 when Dayna Reilly knocked off Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) 6-2, 6-2 at first singles.
The hosts earned their final point of the day at sixth singles, when Jenna St. Lawrence handed Maria Benatuil (Caracas, Venezuela) a 6-4, 6-3 defeat.
Shea got the Beacons on the board at fifth singles. The senior earned a 7-6 (7-1) first set victory and then rushed back from 4-1 down in the second to grab a 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 win.
In the final match of the day, Erickson picked up an extremely tight 7-5, 7-6 (7-2) win in fourth singles.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Thursday's loss snapped UMass Boston's four-match winning streak-their longest since 2001.
- Rhode Island College improved to 18-3 all-time against the Beacons and earned their fifth-straight win over UMass Boston.
- Shea set a new personal-record for singles wins in a single-season by improving to 8-1.
- Erickson tied her season total from a year ago with her ninth win of the season (9-6).
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will host UMass Dartmouth on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the first-ever Little East Conference "Game of the Season." Saturday's match will be televised on Littleeast.tv starting at 12:55 p.m.
