Tennis Rallies but Falls Short vs. Becker
NEW LONDON, Conn. – Becker College came out on top in a 5-4 final at Mitchell College on Tuesday afternoon in a New England Collegiate Conference women's tennis showdown at the Mack Tennis Courts.
With the match tied at 4-4, Becker's Jacqueline Andrade topped Mitchell's Samantha Ryan at the No. 2 spot to earn the deciding point. Andrade won the first set in a tiebreaker before Ryan battled back to force a third set. In the final set, Andrade held off Ryan to win 6-4 and secure the team's first NECC victory of the season.
Becker won two of three doubles points to take an early advantage. The teams split the No. 2 and 3 matches by decisive finals, but the battle at the No. 1 spot was heated. The duo of Jennifer Lord and Andrade outlasted Ryan and Laura Simmons for an 8-6 win in a match that lasted over 90 minutes.
The bottom four singles matches were the first to go out, and the Hawks picked up wins at No. 3 and 6 behind the efforts of Livia Smith and Dana Mahan, respectively. The Mariners kept their hopes alive thanks to wins by Veyda McVey at No. 4 and Jenny Groman at No. 5.
Trailing 4-3, Mitchell evened up the match behind a big win by Simmons at the top spot. She took the first set against Lord by a 6-2 final before fighting to a 7-5 win in the second.
The win moved Becker into a tie with Mitchell for fourth place in the NECC standings. The top four teams will qualify for the 2014 NECC Championship, which begins with semifinals play on October 18.
Mitchell (2-7, 1-6 NECC) will next host Regis College on Friday, October 10 at 3 p.m. Becker (2-11 overall, 1-5 NECC) returns to action at home against Bay Path College on Thursday, October 9 at 3 p.m.
