NEWPORT, R.I. – Returning to the court for an abbreviated spring season, Post University Women's Tennis made the trip down to Newport, Rhode Island for their first-ever matchup against Division III Salve Regina University on Wednesday afternoon, falling 4-3, and now on a three-game losing dating back to the fall portion of the season.
THE BASICS
Post University 3, Salve Regina University 4
Post University (3-14)
Salve Regina University (4-8)
HOW IT HAPPENED
With some new faces on the court, the Eagles would be unable to take the Doubles point as senior
Megan Lombardt and junior
Gioia Turco were beaten in the #1 Doubles, 6-4, by sophomores Stephanie Davis and Kaydin Pinto as were freshman
Julie Merlin and senior
Tamara Radovanov in the #3 Doubles by an identical score against seniors Natalie Barros and Elena Murdock.
Senior
Anna Eicke took part in her first collegiate Doubles win, partnering with senior
Nina Langenfeld in the #2 Doubles for a 6-3 victory over senior Natalie Vega and sophomore Madigan Murphy, but the Seahawks would head into the six Singles matches with a 1-0 lead.
The 1-3 Singles would all go the way of Post as Lombradt won set one of the #1 Singles, 7-6, on a 9-7 tiebreaker against Pinto before finishing her off in set two, 6-1. It would be straight sweeps in both the #2 Singles and #3 Singles for Merlin and Langenfeld as the latter won 6-2 and 6-1 over Davis, while the former was victorious, 6-1 and 6-0, against Murphy.
Those three wins put Post within one of being able to clinch the match, but the 4-6 Singles would all favor Salve Regina to give them the narrow 4-3 team win. Sweeping all three matches, Vega took down Turco, 6-3 and 6-2, in the #4 Singles while Murdock in the #5 Singles took care of business against Eicke, 6-3 and 6-0. Barros polished off the day with the #6 Singles victory over Radovanov, 6-4 and 6-2, sealing the first-ever matchup between the two programs.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Tamara Radovanov and Anna Eicke made their debuts for Post University today after playing for the Women's Volleyball and Women's Soccer programs, respectively, in the fall
- Dating back to the fall portion of the season, this is the first time in Julie Merlin's career where she has won back-to-back Singles matches -- Merlin won two in a row in September, but one of the wins was due to an injury to her opponent, which cut the match short
- Dropping the Doubles matchups again today, Post University is now 1-14 when losing the Doubles point this season and 2-0 when they win it
- This was the first time in program history in which Post University squared off against Salve Regina University
WHO'S NEXT
As scheduled right now, Post University will play its final match of the 2024-25 season on Sunday afternoon on the road against Saint Anselm College at 3:30 PM. The Eagles have not played the Hawks since the 2018-19 season in which they came out on top, 4-0, in their only head-to-head matchup to date.
