West Haven, C.T- After coming off a hard-fought loss against Southern New Hampshire, the New Haven tennis team looked to their home courts as they took on the conference leading Adelphi University Panthers. Last year the team came home from New York with a 4-3 match win against Adelphi and would take down the Panthers with the same score for the second year in a row.
The Chargers took control of the doubles point, taking two out of three matches to secure the point going into singles play. No. 3 doubles pair Alexa Orlando (Frederick, Md./Middletown) and Alyssa Rodriguez (Tampa, Fla./HB Plant) starting it off for New Haven winning their match and finishing first with a match score of 6-1. Adelphi would take the second match, with a score of 6-4, leaving it even for the No. 1 doubles to determine who gets the point. Valentinna Ferrarini (Caxias do Sul, Brazil) and Karim Carreras (Asuncion, Paraguay/Colegio Bautista de Villa Morra), the No. 1 doubles pair, took a 6-3 win in their doubles match, solidifying the doubles point for New Haven.
Going into singles play with one point, six matches would be played, determining the match winner. Shortly after the Panthers took the first match in singles, Risako Umekuni (Saitama, Japan/Shumei Eiko) would finish with the first win for the Chargers at No. 3 doubles, giving the Chargers another win to add to the score. Adelphi would go on to defeat the Chargers twice, giving them a 3-2 lead over New Haven, making the last two finishing matches crucial to determine a winner.
Lucia Placidi (Melbourne, Australia/Distance Education Centre Victoria) would grab a win for the Chargers, taking the first set 6-3, falling in the second set 6-2, and finishing off with a third set 7-5 win, to even the match points to 3-3. It would all come down to Valentinna Ferrarini (Caxias do Sul, Brazil) in the No. 1 singles spot to determine the match winner. Ferrarini would take the first set 7-5, but Adelphi would force the match to a tiebreaker, where Ferrarini would finish it off with a 7-3 tiebreak win, lifting the Chargers over Adelphi.
Looking into the future, the Chargers will take a few days before they are back in action in Waltham, Massachusetts to take on the Falcons of Bentley University. That match is set for Wednesday, October 4th at 3:00 p.m.
