NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Lesley University women's tennis team clinched a spot in the 2015 New England Collegiate Conference Women's Tennis Championship with a 6-3 victory over Mitchell College on Monday afternoon in the final league match of the regular season.
The Lynx finished with a 5-11 overall record and complete the conference slate with a 5-5 record and tied with Bay Path University for third place in the standings. The semifinals of the NECC Championship will be played on Saturday, October 17 at the site of the highest seeds.
This marks the third straight season the Lynx have entered the postseason.
Lesley got off to a strong start in the match by taking two of three doubles points. The top two doubles squads each cruised to 8-2 victories for the Lynx, with Caroline Kiddie (Scituate, Mass.) and Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) winning at No. 1 and Frances De Leon (Murrieta, Calif.) and Diana Watson (Acton, Mass.) posting a victory at No. 2.
Brittany Fuller (Bolton, Conn.) and Lehayla Cruz (Bridgeport, Conn.) kept the Mariners in the match by salvaging a point at No. 3 doubles. The duo battled to a 9-7 win over Courtney Goggin (Cheshire, Conn.) and Hannah Levensailor (Ayer, Mass.) to keep the deficit at 2-1 heading into singles play.
Kiddie and De Leon each won in straight sets at the top of the lineup to keep Lesley's momentum going. Kiddie posted a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1 over Samantha Ryan (Quaker Hill, Conn.) while De Leon overcame early deficits in each set to win 6-4, 6-3 over Heather Schall (Hopatcong, N.J./Hopatcong) at No. 2.
Lesley clinched the match at No. 3 singles when Pereira rallied back from a set down against Veyda McVey (Wallingford, Conn.) to win 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Watson accounted for the final point of the day at No. 4. She also dropped the first set but recovered to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Dominique Lacroix (Parker, Colo.).
After teaming up for a doubles win, Cruz and Fuller also picked up wins in singles action. Cruz dropped the first set at No. 5 against Rosie Heller (State College, Pa.) but bounced back to win the second. With the match already decided, the two played a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a third set, and Cruz came out the victor by a 10-7 final. Fuller won her match by a 6-2, 6-2 final over Goggin at No. 6.
Mitchell finished the season with a record of 3-9 overall and 3-7 in the NECC. Lesley will next host UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday, October 13 at 7:30p.
Release courtesy Mitchell College Sports Information