RICHMOND, Va. - The Duquesne women's tennis team dropped a pair of road contests against Atlantic 10 foes VCU (7-0) and Richmond (6-1) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, in Richmond, Va. The Dukes fall to 3-3 on the season.
VCU 7, Dukes 0
The Dukes got off to a quick start in doubles, going up 2-0 at the third flight and 4-2 in the first flight. However, they were unable to capitalize as No. 3 doubles fell 6-3, and No. 2 doubles lost 6-2. No. 1 doubles was down 5-4 before the doubles point was clinched.
In singles play,
Ellen Shanahan provided the best performance at No. 2 singles as she won the first set 6-1, but fell in the second set 7-6(6) and 10-4 in the super tie breaker in lieu of a third set.
Meredith Lee also gave a solid effort, going up 5-3 and several set points before losing 7-5, 6-1 at No. 4 Singles. Ana Utrilla-Benito lost in two close sets at No. 5 singles, going down 6-4, 6-4.
"Today we had a good opportunity to give one of the premier teams in our conference a hard battle," said Duquesne Director of Tennis
Vanessa Steiner. "We went into this match believing that we had a chance to win. Unfortunately, we were unable to execute well enough to translate our belief into the box score."
Richmond 6, Dukes 1
Daniela Latoni was the only one to put the Dukes on the board, winning 7-5, 6-2 at the sixth singles flight.
"I was really able to feed of my teammates energy today," said Duquesne sophomore
Daniela Latoni. "They encouraged me to keep my head up, fight through the match, and get the win."
The Dukes were swept in the doubles point, with Pessy and Lee falling 6-3 at No. 1, Shanahan and Latoni falling 6-4 at No. 2, and Gottiparthy and Utrilla-Benito fell 6-4 at No. 3.
In singles play, Ana Utrilla-Benito lost the first set 6-2 at the fifth singles flight, before fighting back and winning the second set 7-5. She ultimately fell 10-3 in the super tiebreaker.
Shanahan and
Meredith Lee also provided close matches in singles, losing by identical 7-6, 6-1 scores at the third and fourth singles flight.
"Our competitive energy was much higher today than yesterday," said Steiner. "We had much more cheering across courts, energy off the courts, and engagement throughout the team. Although it didn't translate on the box score, there was a huge difference on every court."
NEXT UP
Duquesne heads to Dayton, Ohio for Atlantic 10 matchups against the Flyers (March 26) and Saint Louis (March 27).
