Salve Regina Hands Wentworth Loss in Conference Finale

(Courtesy of Salve Regina Sports Information)

MILTON, Mass. - Coaches, players, and fans of the Salve Regina University and Wentworth Insititute of Technology women's tennis programs tried three neutral sites before finally settling on the campus of Curry College for the final The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) dual match of the regular season.

The overnight rainfall had initially delayed the start of today's match, which eventually got underway at 1:42 p.m.

Salve Regina took two of the three doubles matches as junior Erin Phillips (Morristown, N.J.) and senior captain Jessica Timpano (Narragansett, R.I.) won 8-3 at No. 1 doubles and finished with an 8-3 mark in TCCC play at that position.

Junior Valerie Leso (West Warwick, R.I.) and sophomore Nichol Stevens (Chester, Conn.) took an 8-5 decision at No. 2 doubles. This pair has been competitive in every match while posting a 6-4 mark against the league.  Salve Regina's lone setback came at No. 3 doubles, where Leopard freshmen Lana Ho (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) and Sophie Boyce (South Portland, Maine) prevailed.

The Seahawks swept the singles action led by a 6-0,6-0 triumph at No. 1 singles for Phillips. Leso recovered from a second-set trip to win in a third-set tiebreak; she led the team in tiebreaks on the fall season.

Freshman Erin Henriksen (East Hampton, Conn.) and junior Elise Jones (Pittsfield, Mass.) completed the sweep with straight-set wins at Nos. 5 and 6 singles, respectively.

Salve Regina (6-6; 6-5 TCCC) secured the No. 6 seed in the conference playoffs which begin on Tuesday. The Seahawks will most likely travel to No. 3 Endicott College pending the outcome of the Gulls' final regular season match at winless Regis College tomorrow. Wentworth (4-9; 4-7 TCCC) owns the No. 8 seed and will travel to top-seeded Colby-Sawyer on Tuesday. All quarterfinal round matches have a 2 p.m. start.