ORLANDO, Fla. - The 10th seeded Duquesne University women's tennis team lost its opening-round match of the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships, 4-2 to No. 7 Rhode Island, this afternoon at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.

After splitting the first two doubles matches, the attention turned towards the third flight for the first point of the day. The Dukes' Ana Utrilla Benito and Ellen Shanahan scored back-to-back games to flip a 5-4 deficit into a 6-5 lead, but the Rams were able to bounce back and force a tiebreak. In the marathon, back-and-forth tiebreak, Nikki Fernando/Priyanka Shanker, of URI, pulled out a 9-7 win to clinch the opening point.

Rhode Island added a pair of quick sweeps at the #4 and #1 singles spots to set up match point. Anastasiia Kotsyuba and Daniela Latoni kept the Dukes alive with victories in the sixth and second flights, but a 7-5, 6-2 decision in favor of the Rams out of the #5 position followed to seal the deal. Kotsyuba posted identical 6-4 sets to claim her win at #6, while Latoni earned the win off a 6-2 score in the opener and a hard-fought 7-6 win off a 7-3 tie-break.

Duquesne finishes the 2022-23 season with a 9-9 overall record.

Doubles Results
1. Sophie Herrman/Valentina Cvackova (URI) def. Margot Pessy/Daniela Latoni (DUQ) 6-2
2. Jasa Roka/Anastasiia Kotsyuba (DUQ) def. Nadia Rajan/Paulina Loredo (URI) 6-1
3. Nikki Fernando/Priyanka Shanker (URI) def. Ana Utrilla Benito/Ellen Shanahan (DUQ) 7-6(7)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles Results
1. Sophie Herrman (URI) def. Margot Pessy (DUQ) 6-1, 6-2
2. Daniela Latoni (DUQ) def. Valentina Cvackova (URI) 6-2, 7-6(3)
3. Nadia Rajan (URI) vs. Jasa Roka (DUQ) 6-3, 2-6, 4-2, DNF
4. Nikki Fernando (URI) def. Natasha Novak (DUQ) 6-1, 6-0
5. Paulina Loredo (URI) def. Ellen Shanahan (DUQ) 7-5, 6-2
6. Anastasiia Kotsyuba (DUQ) Ava Grnja (URI) 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 6, 2, 5