CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – After dropping two out of three doubles matches, the Lesley University Lynx stormed back to take five singles matches and topped Becker College 6-3 in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's tennis action tonight at Buckingham, Browne, and Nichols. The Lynx improve to 5-6 on the year and an even 4-4 in NECC play with the win while the Hawks fall to 3-10 overall and 2-6 in the conference. With the win, Lesley avenges a 5-4 loss to Becker on September 28th, forcing a split in the season series.
The Hawks got off to a fast start taking two of the three doubles matches. Sophomores Cameron Murphy (Weymouth, Mass.) and Anna Pilip (New Britain, Conn.) teamed up to take an 8-4 decision in first doubles over Lynx juniors Emma True (Lee, N.H.) and Molly Phelps (Durham, N.H.). Lesley evened things up as freshman Frances De Leon (Murrieta, Calif.) and sophomore Victoria Bunker (Auburn, Me.) defeated Hawks senior Shauna Buckley (Danvers, Mass.) and sophomore Kerry Saltvick (Bakersfield, Calif.) in the second doubles flight, 8-5. Becker then took a hard fought third doubles match as freshman Lily Woodward-Logan (Berkeley, Calif.) and senior Chenylle Mercado (Tyngsborough, Mass.) won in a tiebreak, 9-8, over Lesley freshman Kaitlin Parthum (Marblehead, Mass.) and sophomore Kelly Watt (Babylon, N.Y.).
Cameron Murphy carried her success over from doubles for Becker, topping Lesley junior Carissa Iverson (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) in first singles, 6-4, 6-4. From there it was all Lesley, as they earned victories in second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth singles matches. Freshman Grace Ciampa (Tewksbury, Mass.) earned a 6-4, 6-2 win in second singles over Anna Pilip while Victoria Bunker earning a 6-3, 6-3 decision over Kerry Saltvick in the third singles match.
Frances De Leon earned her second victory of the night, fighting to a 7-5 first set win before taking the second 6-3, over Shauna Buckley. Emma True topped Lily Woodward-Logan 6-2, 6-4 in the fifth singles match before Lesley junior Meghann Toomajian (Nahant, Mass.) rounded out the night with a 6-3, 6-1 victory in sixth singles over Chenylle Mercado.
Lesley will conclude their regular season with a non-conference match on Monday, October 14th at Curry College before heading into the NECC Championship Tournament. Becker finished their regular season tonight, but have also locked up a spot in the NECC Tournament.