LOUDONVILLE, NY – It would be only 10 days since the Siena Women's Tennis last met its MAAC Championship First Round opponent in Rider when the teams clash on the courts Friday at 2 p.m. from Mercer County Tennis Park in West Windsor, NJ.
The Saints (7-10 overall and 5-3 in conference play) were taken to the limit that day, but emerged victorious on a clinching victory by
Zaara Omar from the singles No. 3 position to give them a 4-3 win at the home of the Broncs in Lawrenceville, NJ.
Omar outlasted Claire Brown 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in a back-and-forth tussle to improve Siena's all-time head-to-head record against Rider to 25-1.
Laia Giralt,
Manuela Gomez and
Madeline De Faber-Schumacher all were victorious as well from the No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 spots as Siena took four of six singles matches.
Siena head tennis coach
Alex Van Cott will be making its first trip to the postseason in is his first season as head coach after taking over the program last summer.
Laia Giralt beat Laila Fishman 7-6 (7), 6-2 at the number ones while Gomez bested Chloe Monachelli 6-3, 6-2 and De Faber-Schumacher held off Elle Catanzarite 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5).
The fourth-seeded Broncs (9-12 overall, 5-3 MAAC) have been led by a pair of 11-game winners in Maria Buss and Fishman. Catanzarite, Monachelli, and Daniela Naves each have won eight games apiece.
Leading Siena, De Faber-Schumacher had a team-best 16 wins while Giralt and Gomez each have 14 wins apiece. Mullaney has won eight singles matches while Omar and
Andrea Vargas each have won seven matches this season.
The winner will play against No. 1 Quinnipiac (10-8 overall, 8-0 MAAC) on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The top six teams qualify for the MAAC Tournament. The tournament runs through Sunday, April 27 and is single-elimination. The tournament has been held at Mercer County Tennis Park for 13 consecutive years.
