March 27, 2010

Final Stats

Siena won all three of the singles matches that went to three sets in posting a 5-2 victory over the Lady Jaspers at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center Saturday.

Manhattan moved Friday's match against Loyola to the indoor courts because of the cold, windy weather, but the teams had to endure the elements on Saturday. That didn't seem to phase the doubles tandems, as there were tight matches at both No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. After Siena's duo of Brittany Filip and Jessica Asselin notched an 8-2 victory over Christina Ton (Milipitas, Calif.) and Nora Hulton Sacchi (Rome, Italy) at No. 3 doubles, Manhattan evened it up when Johnson and Stephanie Tsao (Scarsdale, N.Y.) beat Jasselin Sandhu and Nicole Ross 8-6 at No. 1. With the doubles point on the line, Manhattan's No. 2 pair of Hilary Valenzuela (Mesa, Ariz.) and Christina Puleo (Leonia, N.J.) held serve to go up 7-6 against Danielle Crill and Elora Benfer. Valenzuela and Puleo then got a break in the next game to wrap up an 8-6 win and clinch the doubles point.

In singles play, Johnson defeated Sandhu 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1, and Siena got victories in the No. 4 and No. 6 positions. At No. 4 singles, Ross defeated Puleo 6-4, 7-5, while Benefer beat Hulton Sacchi 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. With the match deadlocked at 2-2, the other three matches all went the distance. Siena won all three to secure the win. At No. 2 singles, Valenzuela easily won the first set before Crill came back to post a 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 triumph. Ton played possibly her best match of the season at No. 3 singles, taking the first set 6-4. However, Asselin rallied back to claim a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory. The No. 5 singles match between Tsao and Filip went the distance, as well. The two traded 6-4 sets before Filip rallied to take the third set, 6-2, giving her a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win.

"We were able to regroup after the loss of the doubles' point and refocus on the singles where we won five of the six matches, with three going the distance," Head Coach Andy Christodoulou said. "Conditioning and mental toughness was the key to this win."

The Saints return to action April 7 when they host Marist at 3 p.m. in the first match of a three-match home stand.