Huskies at Western Connecticut on Saturday
GORHAM, Maine -- The visiting University of Massachusetts Boston women's tennis team cruised to a 9-0 victory over the University of Southern Maine in a Little East Conference match Tuesday afternoon at the Gorham High School courts.
The win was the third straight for the Beacons moving them over the .500 mark at 4-3 overall. The Beacons, now 3-1 in conference play, moved into a tie for second place. The Huskies, winless in five LEC matches, dropped their second straight match to fall to 1-7 overall.
The Beacons survived a modest scare in doubles play before sweeping all three points. Junior Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla./Immaculata LaSalle) and rookie Katie Gauthier (West Boylston, Mass.) opened the match with a convincing 8-0 win at number one doubles giving the Beacons a 1-0 lead. Junior Kathleen Conroy (Quincy, Mass.) and senior Kelsey Shea (West Bridgewater, Mass.) held off the USM duo of senior Rikki Demoranville (Madawaska, Maine) and sophomore Joanna Scheidegger (Lyss, Switzerland) for an 8-4 verdict at number two. In the closest doubles match, the UMB tandem of junior Meghan Erickson (Hubbardston, Mass./Quabbin Regional) and freshman Valeria Tueme (Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) eked out a 9-7 win over sophomore Margaret Smith (Farmingdale, Maine/Gardiner Area) and freshman Gabby Brooks (Palermo, Maine/Messalonskee).
From that point, the Beacons swept through the six singles matches. Garcia took a straight-sets win over USM senior Deb Attalla (Navarre, Fla.) at the top of the ladder, and Gauthier dispatched with sophomore Courtney Jordan (Portland, Maine/Westbrook) at number three, 7-5, 6-1. At number two, USM senior Liz Martin (Naugatuck, Conn./Woodland Regional) forced Conroy to a tiebreaker in the second set before Conroy took the match 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Southern Maine is off until Saturday (12:00 p.m.) it travels to Western Connecticut State University for a Little East match. UMass Boston is at Rhode Island College on Saturday (1:00 p.m.).
-ble-
