ALLSTON-BRIGHTON, Mass.—Simmons College jumped out to a 2-1 lead after doubles and held on, to earn a 5-4 victory over visiting UMass Boston women's tennis Thursday afternoon at the Daly Courts.
THE BASICS
Simmons College 5, UMass Boston 4
(UMass Boston 1-1)
(Simmons College 1-2)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior Kathleen Conroy (Quincy, Mass.) went 2-0 on the day, but it wasn't enough to help the Beacons earn their first 2-0 start since 2001.
The senior earned wins at third doubles and third singles, to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Fellow seniors Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) and Martina Daelli (Florence, Italy) added wins at first and second singles for UMass Boston.
Simmons jumped out to a 2-0 lead with wins at first and second doubles. Jessica Schroedl and Paola Rios defeated Katie Gauthier (West Boylston, Mass.) and Garcia 8-5 at first doubles, while Nickie Nguyen and Marrisa Johnson knocked off Valeria Tueme (Bonney Lake, Wash.) and Daelli 8-4 at second doubles.
UMass Boston cut the deficit back to one with a huge win at third doubles. Meghan Erickson (Hubbardston, Mass.) and Conroy outlasted Celia Speth and Gail Tynkov 8-6 to make it 2-1 after doubles.
Simmons would take three of the first four matches in singles play to secure the win.
Michelle Medici made it 3-1 in favor of the Sharks, when she defeated Gauthier 6-3, 6-1 at fourth singles.
Conroy countered for the Beacons with a big win of her own. The Beacons number three singles player cruised to a 6-0, 6-4 win over Johnson.
Simmons pushed the lead out to 4-2, after Speth held off Tueme 7-5, 6-4 in a hard-earned win at sixth singles.
The Sharks clinched the win at fifth singles. Rios held off Erickson 6-4, 6-3 to extend the lead to 5-2.
UMass Boston closed out the match on a high note though, as they earned a pair of three-set victories.
Daelli defeated Nguyen 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to improve to 2-0 on the year at second singles.
Garcia needed three sets as well, as she knocked off Schroedl 7-5, 4-6, 10-5 in a third-set super tiebreaker victory.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Thursday's match marked the first meeting between the two Boston schools since 2003. With the win, the Sharks improved to 3-1 all-time.
- Conroy is 4-0 to start the season for the first time in her career. The fifth-year senior had never started a season with more than two-straight wins before this year.
- UMass Boston improved to 4-0 this season in three-set singles matches. Daelli has played three-set matches in both matches to open the year.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will open Little East Conference play on Saturday at 1 p.m., when they travel to take on Bridgewater State University.
