SKIDMORE SNAPS SAINTS’ WINNING

STREAK BEHIND 7-2 VICTORY

April 18: The No. 17 St. Lawrence University women’s tennis team saw their six-match win streak come to an end on Friday evening, as the Saints dropped a Liberty League contest to No. 10 Skidmore at the Sammis Tennis Courts by the score of 7-2. The Thoroughbreds (10-6, 4-0) used a strong performance in singles play, winning five of the six matches to remain unbeaten in the conference.

St. Lawrence (10-3, 2-1) found themselves trailing 2-1 after doubles play, with the one point coming from sophomore Casey Gilman and first year student Stephanie Finn. The No. 2 team defeated Skidmore’s Jenny Grabler and Stephanie Abrams 8-2.

The visitors still earned a 2-1 lead thanks to the No. 1 team of Rachel Loeb and Dani Fancher, who defeated senior Kirsten Lannon and sophomore Chelsea Hubbell 8-4, and Laura Attley and Kyra Travis who knocked off the No. 3 duo of co-captains Teresa Rodriguez and Liz Ronty.

Skidmore put the match away in singles play, winning each of their five matches in straight sets. The Thoroughbreds, who now have the inside track to the No. 1 seed in next weekend’s Liberty League Tournament, extended their cushion with a 6-3, 6-1 win from Loeb over Lannon at No. 1 singles and a 6-3, 6-3 victory by Grabler over Gilman at the No. 3 slot.

Attley, Abrams and Caroline Sherman added wins for Skidmore at the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles positions to ensure the victory. Attley beat Rodriguez 6-3, 6-0 at No. 4, Abrams outlasted Hubbell 6-2, 6-3 and Sherman defeated rookie Mackenzie Hall 6-1, 6-2 at the final singles spot.

St. Lawrence’s lone point in the singles play came at the No. 2 spot, where Fancher was forced to retire due to injury after winning the first set against Finn 7-5.

The Saints will look to rebound on Sunday, April 20 when they head to Schenectady, NY to take on the Union Dutchwomen. That match is set to begin at 2:00pm.

SAINTS CAPTURE SIXTH STRAIGHT WIN

BY BEATING CORTLAND 8-1

April 16: The St. Lawrence University women’s tennis team won their sixth straight dual-match on Wednesday afternoon with an 8-1 victory over the Cortland State Red Dragons in Cortland, NY. The Saints improve to 10-2 on the season heading into a Liberty League match against Skidmore on Friday.

The Scarlet and Brown used a dominating 3-0 performance in doubles to set the bar for the match. Senior Kirsten Lannon and sophomore Chelsea Hubbell defeated Meg Cole and Amanda McElroy 8-2 at the top-doubles spot, while rookie Stephanie Finn and sophomore Casey Gilman improved to 10-0 at No. 2 doubles with an 8-0 win against Dayna Brent and Merchon Brower.

Co-captain Liz Ronty and Kelley Jenkins then came through with a key point at No. 3 doubles thanks to an 8-2 victory against Katie Freeman and Jennifer Carlisi.

With a commanding 3-0 lead, the Saints settled in and continued their strong play in the singles portion of the match. The Scarlet and Brown won each of the top-five matches, including straight set wins from Lannon (6-1, 6-1 vs. Cole), Finn (6-0, 6-1 vs. McElroy), Gilman (6-0, 6-1 vs. Ariel Kelner) and Cohen (6-2, 6-0 vs. Brent). Hubbell came from a set down to defeat Brower 4-6, 6-4, 10-2 to complete St. Lawrence’s scoring.

Cortland State’s lone point came at No. 6 singles where Carlisi earned a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over Jenkins.

St. Lawrence will welcome Skidmore College to Canton, NY on Friday for a Liberty League match-up beginning at 4:30pm. The contest will be the final home match for the women’s tennis team this season.