MIDDLEBURY, Conn. – Up and on the courts early Sunday morning following a narrow 4-3 loss at the hands of Chestnut Hill College yesterday, Post University Women's Tennis suffered its third consecutive loss to start the season against Saint Michael's College at the Edgewood Bath and Tennis Club, 5-2. Junior Ana Vasilis and sophomore Julie Merlin were responsible for the only two team points for the Eagles today, as well as the lone Doubles win. 

THE BASICS

Post University 2, Saint Michael's College 5

Post University (0-3)

Saint Michael's College (5-1)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Merlin and Vasilis overcame a 5-4 deficit in the #1 Doubles against junior Emma Gredenhag and sophomore Lucy McPherson to force a seven-point tiebreaker when the two sides were squared up at six all. The duo came out on top, 7-2, in the tiebreaker, but Saint Michael's would take the Doubles point after taking the #2 and #3 Doubles from the Eagles. Sophomore Laura Kotala and freshman Vitalina Sokoliuk were taken down by freshmen Olivia Larsen and Ana Maria Ricuarte, 6-2, as would be the case in the #3 Doubles with sophomores Jedidah Xu and Annabella Aldrete against junior Gioia Turco and freshman Savannah Croft.

Turco and Ricuarte were the first match to finish in the Singles portion of the day, with Ricuarte winning the #6 Singles in straight sets, 6-0. A near-sweep was also in the cards for Xu against Kotala in the #4 Singles, as she emerged with a 6-0 victory in set one, followed by a 6-2 victory in set two, pushing the Purple Knights on the brink of the team win with three team points. Momentum briefly shifted back in favor of Post as Merlin was a 6-1 and 6-0 winner over Gredenhag in the #3 Singles, but it would be quickly dashed by Larsen in the #2 Singles with her win over Sokoliuk, 6-1 and 6-4. 

As Croft and Aldrete got underway in the #5 Singles, the final match of the day, which ended in a 6-3 and 6-0 win for Aldrete, Vasilis and McPherson headed into a third set on court one for the #1 Singles. The matchup saw Vasilis take set one, 6-2, while McPherson took set two, 6-3, leading to a 10-point tiebreaker in a decisive third set in which Vasilis edged out McPherson, 10-8, giving the Eagles their second win of the day in the 5-2 loss. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Ana Vasilis has now won two consecutive Singles matches after dropping her first one of the season against Assumption University
• Through three matches, both Julie Merlin and Ana Vasilis hold 2-1 records in Singles matches, while both being 1-2 in Doubles matches 
• Dating back to last season, Post University has lost six straight matches and 11 of its last 12 matches 
• Sunday's matchup marked the first time in program history that Post University and Saint Michael's College faced off against each other 

 
WHO'S NEXT
Post University heads on the road for the first time this season, facing off against Goldey-Beacom College on Tuesday at 3:30 PM in their second conference match of the season. The Eagles were swept by the Lightning in their home-and-home last year after winning the previous three matchups against them.