West Haven, C.T- The New Haven women's tennis team took their first defeat of the spring season this afternoon. Coming off a big win against Assumption, the Chargers fell to the Penmen of Southern New Hampshire University 4-3. Risako Umekuni (Saitama, Japan/Shumei Eiko) leading the way for the Chargers, participating in the tiebreaking doubles win and taking a point for the Chargers in her singles matches
Starting off with the doubles match, the Chargers put up a fight against the Penmen, forcing two close games, pulling through with two wins in first and second doubles but falling in the third. First doubles pair of Karim Carreras (Asuncion, Paraguay/Colegio Bautista de Villa Morra) and Valentinna Ferrarini (Caxias do Sul, Brazil) coming out with a win of 6-3 to give the Chargers the first win in doubles. New Haven's third doubles pair would fall, leaving the matches even at 1-1, pushing the second doubles to be the decision maker for the double's point. Second doubles pair Lucia Placidi (Melbourne, Australia/Distance Education Centre Victoria) and Risako Umekuni (Saitama, Japan/Shumei Eiko) would force the match to a tiebreaker. Within the tiebreaker the two Chargers would take away the set with a 7-5 win, taking the doubles point for New Haven going into singles.
New Haven would grab their first doubles win in the sixth singles, with Risako Umekuni (Saitama, Japan/Shumei Eiko) taking two sets from the Southern New Hampshire opponent, to take yet another point for the Chargers. Karim Carreras (Asuncion, Paraguay/Colegio Bautista de Villa Morra) would fall in the first set with a score 6-4 but would come back to take set two and three for the Chargers second point with scores 6-0, 6-2. Unfortunately, the Penmen would grab their third point in the fourth doubles, to grab the win despite Alyssa Rodriguez (Tampa, Fla./HB Plant) forcing two tiebreakers before falling in the third set.
Next up, New Haven will look to bounce back, as they head to Waltham, Massachusetts to take on the Falcons of Bentley University. First Serve between the Falcons and the Chargers is set for 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 4th.
