April 13, 2002

(Glenmont, NY - April 13) The Niagara University Purple Eagles handed the Siena Saints a 6-1 loss in MAAC tennis action today. The match was played indoors at the Capital Region Racquet Club due to the threat of inclement weather. The Purple Eagles stormed through the first seven matches played before the Saints Eileen Gallocher Bayside, NY/ St. Francis Prep)stopped them with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Kendra Daigler at #6 singles. The ninth and final match was also won by the Siena as the #2 doubles team of Brooke Fisher (Katonah, NY/ John Jay) and Vicki Dunham (Long Beach, NY/ Sacred Heart) came from 5-1 down to take the next 7 games and the match 8-5.

The Purple Eagles showed why they are the team that is going to threaten defending champion Loyola at the upcoming MAAC Championships next weekend at the National Tennis Center. They are solid from top to bottom and showed it with straight set victories in 1 through 5 singles.

"Our players played very well," Siena Coach, Jeff Bloomberg said. "We were just up against a better team today. They played with a lot of heart. Everyone gave it her best shot. It would have been quite easy the just fold after losing the first 7 matches but they kept fighting and it paid off with win 2 wins at the end."

The Saint's finish up the MAAC regular season tomorrow, Sunday with a home match against Canisius. Match time is 1:30PM

Niagara 6 Siena 1

Singles:
1. M. Matijevic(N) def. Nikki Mayer 6-0, 6-3
2. Miriam Al-Shikanchy(N) def. Andrea Disponzio 7-5, 6-4
3. Colleen Willick(N) def. Betsy Brookins 6-2, 7-6(5)
4. Erin Burke(N) def. Brooke Fisher 6-1, 6-1
5. Colleen Carey(N) def. Vicki Dunham 6-1, 6-1
6. Eileen Gallocher(S) def. Kendra Daigler 7-5, 6-4

Doubles:
1. Matijevic/Willick(N) def. Mayer/Disponzio 8-6
2. Fisher/Dunham(S) def. Carey/Kristin Christopher 8-5
3. Al-Shikanchy/Burke(N) def. Jenn Fahr/Anne Burak 8-0

Siena record 5-8 (3-5 MAAC)