(Courtesy of Salem State Sports Information)

            SALEM, Mass. -- The Salem State College women's tennis team defeated the University of Southern Maine, 5-1, Tuesday afternoon in the first round of the Little East Conference postseason tournament.

            The third-seeded Vikings eliminated the sixth-seeded Huskies, and will travel to Bridgewater State College on Thursday to face the Bears in a semifinal match.  Salem State improves to 10-2 on the year, while Southern Maine ends its season at 7-6. Salem State has now defeated Southern Maine in six straight matches.

            Salem State won two of the three doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead entering singles play.  Senior Alicia Poore (Stoneham, Mass.) and sophomore Michelle McEwen (Billerica, Mass.) teamed up to defeat junior Katelyn Ouellette (Lewiston, Maine) and sophomore Tegan Talbot (Topsham, Maine), 9-7, while junior Lauren Turenne (Reading, Mass.) and junior Carly Muniz (Gloucester, Mass.) combined to beat freshmen Emily Boutin (Old Town, Maine) and Rachel Miller (Portland, Maine), 8-4, in first and second doubles.

            Senior Erica Robertson (St. Albans, Vt.) and freshman Sarah Moody (Scarborough, Maine) earned the Huskies lone point in doubles play with a decisive 8-0 win over junior Patricia Quartararo (Lexington, Mass.) and sophomore Anna Yaskell (Stockholm, Sweden) at third doubles.

            Needing only three points to clinch the match, the Vikings posted wins at the top three singles positions. 
Turenne and McEwen knocked off Ouellette and Moody at second and third singles, respectively, in straight sets, while Poore earned the deciding point at first singles, dispatching Miller 6-2, 6-4.

-cac-