HARMAR, Pa. - The Duquesne women's tennis team extended its winning streak to five matches with victories over Mount St. Mary's and Carnegie Mellon over the weekend. The Dukes improved to 12-6 with the pair of wins.
Duquesne 4, Mount St. Mary's 0
Friday's matchup with the Mountaineers was senior night for Duquesne, as seniors
Tyra Abdalla (Scranton, Pa. / Abington Heights),
Maddy Adams (Wexford, Pa. / North Allegheny / Bowling Green) and
Julianne Herman (Philadelphia, Pa. / Archbishop Ryan) would take their home courts for the last time. The DU trio was honored prior to the match before celebrating senior night with a 4-0 victory over Mount St. Mary's.
Doubles kicked off with all three seniors seeing action. Herman and partner
Meredith Lee took an early break at No. 1 doubles and did not look back as the pair went on to win 6-0. Adams played again with
Laurel Shymansky at No. 2 doubles, winning their match handily 6-1. Abdalla teamed up with
Priyanka Mitta at No. 3 doubles, overcoming a 3-1 deficit, rattling off five straight games to a 6-3 triumph.
The Dukes would continue this success into singles competition. All three seniors took the court first. Herman, playing in her usual top spot saw a quick win at No. 1, seemingly playing some of the best tennis of the season and won 6-0, 6-0. Next off was Abdalla who also made quick work of her opponent with a 6-1, 6-0 win at No. 6 singles. Adams picked up another win at No. 3 singles by a score of 6-1, 6-3. Shymansky was up 4-1 at No. 2 and
Aishwarya Kona led 5-0 at No. 4 when the match was decided.
"We are very proud of our seniors, it was a great night celebrating them and their achievements on and off the court," said Director of Tennis
Vanessa Steiner. "We know all three of them will leave Duquesne knowing they gave everything they had to this program."
Duquesne 6, Carnegie Mellon 1
The Dukes returned to the court on Saturday against intracity foe Carnegie Mellon outside in very nice conditions. The Tartans came into the match ranked 10th in the NCAA Division III rankings.
Herman/Lee continued their dominate play at No. 1 doubles with a 6-3 victory. Next off the doubles court was
Priyanka Mitta playing with
Miranda Bishard at No. 2. Playing together for the first time, they collected a 6-3 triumph for Duquesne. Shymansky/Adams were able to sustain their strong doubles play and won 6-1 at No. 3.
After securing the doubles point, the Dukes carried that momentum right into singles action. Kona was first done with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles For Duquesne. Bishard followed up with a 6-0, 7-6 win at No. 6 singles.
Adams, playing some very good tennis, won her match 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles. Herman battled back after losing the first set to win her match 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 at No. 1 singles. Last to come off the court was Mitta who won her match playing at No. 4 singles by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
"We were very impressed with the level of play from both teams," said assistant coach Hunter Callahan. "We knew this was going to be battle, with CMU being one of the top teams in the nation. We came out focused in doubles and continued the high level of competitiveness throughout singles."
NEXT UP
The Dukes wrap up the regular season with a road trip across the Keystone State to Philadelphia, where Duquesne will take on Saint Joseph's (April 12), George Mason (April 13) and La Salle (April 14).
