TENNIS TEAM CELEBRATES SENIOR DAY WITH HUGE GNAC WIN
Oct. 11, 2009
BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Women's Tennis Team upset Suffolk University, 5-4, on Sunday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match at the Winsor School. Both teams entered the match with just one conference loss. However, the Rams have been a perennial fixture atop the GNAC standings for the past several years. The Saints' 5-4 victory over the visitors moved Emmanuel to 9-2 on the season and 4-1 in the GNAC. With the loss, Suffolk fell to 6-4 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Sunday's match was one of the last regular season home contests for Emmanuel College senior Nory Hayes (Newport, R.I.). Hayes has been a four-year player for the Saints and has been honored by the GNAC several times during her career. Hayes was voted the team's Most Improved Player as a junior and the Saints' MVP last season.
Emmanuel began Sunday's doubles play by dropping two of the three matches. Freshman Taylor Dey (Woodbridge, Conn.) and Hayes fell to Suffolk's Alex Hernandez and Lauren Cameron, 8-2, in first doubles. Juniors Megan Harrington (Leicester, Mass.) and Catherine Dunphy (Duxbury, Mass.) took the lone doubles win in the second slot, 8-3. Suffolk's third doubles tandem defeated Emmanuel juniors Brianna Murphy (Wilbraham, Mass.) and Taylor Kelly (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), 8-5.
Heading into singles play, Suffolk led the match, 2-1. Dey, who has yet to drop a set this season, gave Emmanuel another match point at first singles, defeating her opponent, 6-4, 6-3. Dey is now 9-0 on the season. Harrington, who moved up to play in the second singles slot, fell to Lauren Cameron, 6-1, 6-1. Hayes picked up the senior day win for the Saints at third singles, 6-4, 6-3, evening the match at 3-3.
Junior Alexandra Shakra (Bedford, N.H.) dropped a three set decision to her Suffolk opponent at fifth singles, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1. Dunphy took a 7-5, 6-2 straight-set win in the sixth singles spot. These two match knotted the contest at 4-4 with the fourth singles match on the line.
Freshman Jenna Reid (Lincoln, R.I.) knocked off Kelly Conrad, 6-3, 7-6, to give Emmanuel the deciding point and the 5-4 win. Reid is now 9-1 in singles play on the season.
The Saints play at home again on Monday afternoon, taking on Albertus Magnus College in a 2pm start.