Women's Tennis Earns Come-From-Behind Win Over Manhattan
Oct. 12, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - Putting forth what Saint Joseph's second-year head coach Ian Crookenden called "the best Hawk victory since he's been at SJU," the women's tennis team fought back from an early 2-0 deficit to top Manhattan, 5-2, on Monday at the SJU Tennis Complex. The Hawks started out the match with a victory at No. 2 doubles as freshman Casey Robinson and junior Maggie Mullaney posted an 8-6 victory over Hilary Valenzuela and Christina Puelo. Unfortunately for SJU, the Jaspers earned the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Switching to singles play, Manhattan opened a 2-0 edge with a victory at No. 1 singles. From there though, Saint Joseph's dominated the match, winning the next five singles matches in two sets each. Robinson posted a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles and Mullaney evened the match at two apiece with a 7-6, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles. Sophomore Laura Matz gave the Hawks their third point with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Puleo at No. 4 singles, with classmate Sally Kalani Stainier earning the eventual game-winning point with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles. Freshman Nicole Esposito earned Saint Joseph's final point of the day with a straight-set, 6-0, 6-0 win over Christina Ton at No. 6 singles. "We had a great display of determination and character today," Crookenden said of Monday's victory. "This was a very good way to finish the dual match portion of our fall schedule and have us get ready for the ITAs."
The victory brings the Hawks record to 2-3 on the year, while Manhattan falls to 2-2. Saint Joseph's will compete at the ITA Regionals October 22-26. Singles Doubles **Photos from today's match are available at www.sidephotos.com |
