OCEANSIDE, N.Y. – Senior Alexa Orlando (Frederick, Md./Middletown) stormed back from a one set deficit to force a tie breaker and eventually cap off a five-hour battle between the New Haven women's tennis team and Adelphi with a 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 victory to clinch a 4-3 victory for the Chargers. The win for New Haven breaks a 17-year drought against the Panthers with the last New Haven victory coming in September 2005.
New Haven opened up the afternoon match, which was forced indoors due to inclement weather, winning the doubles point with victories at first and third doubles. Orlando, and her doubles partner Kacie Banks (Marietta, Ga./Marietta), would be the first to finish in doubles play, taking a 6-2 decision. Before the Panthers were able to even doubles play, the No. 1 doubles pair of freshman Valentinna Ferrarini (Caxias do Sul, Brazil) and sophomore Karim Carreras (Asuncion, Paraguay/Colegio Bautista de Villa Morra) secured the doubles point with a 6-3 decision.
Adelphi would begin singles action by evening the match at one point apiece with a victory at third singles before the Chargers answered with victories at first and second singles thanks to Ferrarini and Carreras. The latter of those would come in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, while Ferrarini used a 7-5 tiebreaker in the second set to earn her second victory of the afternoon.
The Panthers answered by winning at fourth and fifth singles to even the match at 3-3 with the No. 6 singles battle between Orlando and Jenelle Downer the last to start and the last to finish, with the pressure mounting on both players to secure the conference win.
Orlando would drop the opening set to Downer before forcing a third-set tiebreaker after winning the tiebreak in set two 7-4. Orlando held strong and earner her victory and the Chargers victory with a 6-4 decision in the third set, allowing her team to celebrate its first win over Adelphi in nearly two decades.
The Chargers will return to West Haven to close out the regular season with three-straight matches on their home courts, beginning with a Sunday matinee against Le Moyne. The conference battle is scheduled for a 12:00 p.m. start.
