Seahawks sweep Lions for first victory of 2009

NEWPORT, R.I. - Less than 24 hours after receiving a 9-0 defeat at Wheaton College, Salve Regina University women's tennis dealt its own 9-0 decision to Eastern Nazarene College in The Commonwealth Coast Conference opener for both schools.

"We had the same effort for both matches, just different results," remarked 16th year head coach Ed Habershaw. "It's nice that our players did not get discouraged from yesterday's results, knowing that they still played their best tennis but the opposition outplayed them. Today, we were able to play our best tennis again and that was good enough to outscore the Lions."

Seahawks swept the doubles with freshman Erin Henriksen [East Hampton, Conn.] and junior Val Leso [West Warwick, R.I.] earning the first point at third doubles (8-0). Junior Erin Phillips [Moorestown, N.J.] and senior captain Jessica Timpano [Narragansett, R.I.] dominated the net play at first doubles for an 8-1 score while junior Elise Jones [Pittsfield, Mass.] and sophomore Nichol Stevens [Chester, Conn.] overcame some early jitters for an 8-3 triumph at second doubles.

"Getting to the net was a point of emphasis for our players today," Habershaw continued. "Each of the players experienced some success there while consistently creating opportunities to finish off points."

Jones finished her singles match in quick fashion (6-0,6-0) and was immediately followed by Timpano on the sidelines with a 6-0,6-1 victory. Leso added a sixth point to the Seahawk score with a 6-2,6-1 win.

Phillips posted a straight set win over Lions senior Allison Cammarta [Marion, Mass.] for the second straight year, and showed improvement from first set to second set with her first serve percentage.

"Erin dropped one game in her first set and that's because Allison broke serve on her only break chance while Erin was getting only 44 percent of her first serves in that set," Habershaw analyzed. "Erin raised her first serve percentage and never gave her opponent a break point again."

Stevens battled for her straight-set win at second singles while Henriksen labored in her first set with lots of short balls. Eventually, she gained confidence in her net game and won eight of the last 10 games.

Salve Regina (1-1; 1-0 TCCC) hosts Western New England College on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. while the Lions (0-1; 0-1 TCCC) host Colby-Sawyer College at the same time.