WEST HAVEN, Conn. – The New Haven women's tennis team opened a doubleheader weekend Saturday with a dominating 7-0 sweep of American International that included three shutout sets and a pair of wins from junior Nicole Mika (Staten Island, N.Y./Laurel Springs). The Chargers would need that momentum heading into Sunday's match, going head-to-head with the top team in the conference.
The Blue and Gold charged back into the New Haven Tennis Courts looking to take down Franklin Pierce, needing a tiebreaker to decide the doubles point, which would be crucial in the result. The Ravens prevailed with the point, and after the two sides split the singles rounds with three victories would go on to win the match 4-3.
SATURDAY – NEW HAVEN 7, AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL 0
The Chargers No. 1 doubles tandem of graduate students Ivana Andric (Griesheim, Germany) and Gaayatri Shankar (Kochi, India/TocH Public School) earned a victory together 6-3 to start the day, before going on to win their respective individual matches at No. 1 and No. 2 singles respectively. Mika and graduate Lilia Rodriguez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista) swept their opponents 6-0 to secure the doubles point for New Haven, before sophomore Alexa Orlando (Frederick, Md./Middletown) and freshman Olivia Martinelli (Coral Springs, Fla./Broward Virtual School) shut out the Yellow Jackets No. 3 pairing for their second win together this year.
At No. 4 singles junior Kacie Banks (Marietta, Ga./Marietta) improved to 3-0 on the season with a straight-set victory 6-2, 6-1 over AIC's Alexa Conlin. Junior Katherine MacPhail (Park City, Utah/Judge Memorial Catholic) earned her third win of 2021 at No. 5 singles 6-1, 6-1, before sophomore Anna Katz (Miami, Fla./Laurel Springs) rounded out the day with a 6-1, 6-0 victory in the No. 6 match.
SUNDAY – FRANKLIN PIERCE 4, NEW HAVEN 3
Andric and Shankar moved to a perfect 4-0 on the year as the No. 1 doubles pairing for the Blue and Gold with a 6-4 victory over the Ravens' Himani Mor and Anais Geslin. New Haven would fall 6-2 at No. 2 doubles, leaving the No. 3 game to decide the point for the match. Mika and Orlando made up the pairing for the Chargers, battling their opponents to the very end, forcing a tiebreaker, before Franklin Pierce's Zoe Asterio Correa and M. Penalver Aguilo took a 7-6 victory, taking the tiebreak 8-6.
Moving to singles play it was another two-win day for Andric as she swept her opponent 6-2, 6-0 for her third solo victory of the season. The next two matches would be won by the Ravens in the No. 3 and No. 4 matchups, giving the visitors a 3-1 advantage in the match. MacPhail earned her second win in as many days for the Blue and Gold, this time in a three-set win at No. 6 singles, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.Â
Banks followed her classmate with another match that went the distance, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, putting all eyes on the No. 2 matchup of the Chargers' Karim Carreras (Asuncion, Paraguay/Colegio Bautista de Villa Morra) and the Ravens' Geslin. After dropping the opening set 2-6, Carreras battled back with an 8-6 win in set two, forcing yet another tiebreaker to finally decide the match, where Geslin would prevail in a closely contested battle 6-4, and giving the Ravens the deciding point in the match.
NEXT ON TAP
Following this weekend's doubleheader, the Blue and Gold will head out on the road for a match against Bentley, with the first serve from Waltham, Mass. scheduled for 3:00 p.m. All dates, times, and locations are subject to change due to inclement weather, please check NewHavenChargers.com for the latest information.
