Salve Regina Edges Women's Tennis, 5-4

NEWPORT, R.I. – Salve Regina University sophomore Elizabeth DiFilippo (West Chester, Pa.) outlasted Wentworth Institute of Technology junior Olivia Hegner (Medford, Mass.) to clinch the deciding point in a 5-4 victory for the Seahawks in a Commonwealth Coast Conference match in Newport.

The Seahawks took two of the three doubles flights to take a 2-1 lead. DiFilippo teamed with sophomore Meg Olson (Colchester, Vt.) to take an 8-0 win at number three over sophomore Val Maccarone (Cranston, R.I.) and freshman Nicole McColgan (Tewksbury, Mass.). Wentworth evened the score with an 8-4 win at number one as sophomores Caitlin Corcoran (Brockton, Mass.) and Virginia Ofer (Cooperstown, N.Y.) defeated junior Ana Gwozdz (Taunton, Mass.) and freshman Kasey Walther (Natick, Mass.). Salve Regina's number two doubles team of junior Elizabeth Ligouri (Westerly, R.I.) and senior Shannon O'Brien (Gorham, Maine) gave the hosts the edge with an 8-3 win over senior Sophie Boyce (South Portland, Maine) and junior Deborah Massaro (Stony Point, N.Y.)

O'Brien defeated Boyce, 6-1, 6-0 to give Salve Regina a 3-1 lead and Ligouri defeated Ofer, 6-0, 6-1 to put the Seahawks one point away from clinching. Corcoran ended the run with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Walther at number one to make it a 4-2 match before Massaro knocked off Gwozdz, 6-1, 6-2 to pull Wentworth within a point at 4-3.

The first set between DiFilippo and Hegner went to a tiebreaker, with DiFilippo winning 7-3 to take the set, 7-6. Hegner held a 4-3 lead in the second set but DiFilippo took the next three games to take a 6-4 win, clinching the match for the Seahawks. McColgan defeated sophomore Erica Shay (Concord, Mass.), 6-3, 6-4 at number six to close out the match.

With the win the Seahawks improve to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in CCC play. Salve Regina hosts Nichols on Tuesday. Wentworth falls to 3-6 (2-2) and hosts Endicott, the defending CCC champion, also on Tuesday.