MIDDLEBURY, Conn. -- It was a wild afternoon of twists and turns for Post University Women's Tennis in their 2024 home opener at the Edgewood Bath and Tennis Club against D'Youville University on Saturday. After the Doubles matches finished with the Saints leading 1-0, rain would move in during the early part of the Singles matches forcing a rain delay.

But the rain refused to subside as both teams looked for a solution which resulted in the match being finished in the Middlebury Racquet Club where the Eagles looked to make a comeback but fell just short in a 4-3 defeat, dropping to 0-2 to start the season. 

THE BASICS

Post University 3, D'Youville University 4

Post University (0-2)

D'Youville University (1-0)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Before the rain moved in, senior Megan Lombardt and junior Gioia Turco made quick work of juniors Paola Ermina and Emiliia Soloviova with a 6-0 sweep in the #3 Doubles moving the Eagles within one Doubles match of the point. However the #1 Doubles went the way of D'Youville as freshmen Julie Merlin and Annelein Van Urk fell 6-4 against freshmen Mina Randjelovic and Kseniya Zhdanok. The same would be true in the #2 Doubles with sophomore Maria Campisi and senior Yuliia Kashtelian winning 6-4 over senior Nina Langenfeld and freshman Melanie Leussink.

But the comeback was on in the Singles for the Eagles and it would all ultimately come down to the final Singles match of the day. After Randjelovic defeated Merlin in the #2 Singles, 6-2 and 6-1, Melanie Leussink got Post on the board in the #4 Singles with a 6-4 and 6-1 sweeping on Campisi.

Both teams would split the next two Singles that finished with Zhdanok taking down Lombardt in a pair of 6-2 sets to win the #1 Singles before Turco returned the favor in the #6 Singles against Soloviova with two 6-0 sweeps. With their backs against the walls, Romy Leussink pulled through with set wins of 7-5 and 6-1 in the #5 Singles over Ermina to set up a winner-takes-all #3 Singles.

The matchup between Langenfeld and Kashtelian would end up going the distance after Langenfeld took set one, 6-3, before dropping set two 7-6 on the tiebreaker, 7-3. The third set would boil down to a 10-point tiebreaker in which Kashtelian would get the best of Langenfeld, 10-5, giving the Saints their first win of the season with a 4-3 final team score. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Melanie and Romy Leussink along with Gioia Turco each picked up their first career Singles wins while Turco also earned her first Doubles win today 
• Post University starts 0-2 on the season for the first time since the 2018-19 campaign in which they ended up finishing 12-6 overall
• In Singles play dating back to last season, Megan Lombardt has lost 12 consecutive matches – Lombardt's last Singles win came against Molloy University last September
• This is the first time in program history that Post University has lost to D'Youville University having won the first three matches against them by a combined score of 20-1

 
WHO'S NEXT
Post University will play their next regular match against Jefferson University in their conference opener at home on September 17th, but will head to the ITA East Regional next weekend beforehand.