Posted: Apr 13, 2012

Salve Regina battles at Babson

Erica Shay battled long for a first-set lead, 5-4, and earned the victory at No. 6 singles when her opponent retired due to fatigue.

WELLESLEY, Mass. - Freshman Erica Shay (Concord, Mass.) earned the lone victory for Salve Regina University women's tennis as the Seahawks fell to Babson College, 8-1, in Wellesley, Mass.

Babson swept the doubles, earning wins at No. 1 versus the Seahawk freshman pair of Elizabeth DiFilippo (West Chester, Pa.) and Meg Olson (Colchester, Vt.) and No. 2 against sophomores Ana Gwozdz (Taunton, Mass.) and Elizabeth Liguori (Westerly, R.I.).

Salve Regina's first-time doubles pairing of senior Nichol Stevens (Chester, Conn.) and sophomore Olivia Johnson (Springfield, Vt.) took one game from its opponent at No. 3.

"Our doubles play was very solid today despite getting no wins," said Salve Regina head coach Ed Habershaw. "Ana and Liz took several games to deuce and played a game point multiple times; I really like how they approached the net late in their set and had the Babson duo playing defensively. Olivia continues to force play at the net with positive results."

"Meg and Elizabeth continue to impress with their handling of difficult shots in the midcourt area," continued Habershaw. "They're working on transitioning from defense to offense more frequently."

Each singles player took games from her opponent, led by Shay who won five out of six games in one stretch of her first set. Stevens' grinding style put two games on her side in the second set. Junior Karlee Walther (Natick, Mass.) had the score at 2-3 in each of her sets.

Salve Regina (8-7) travels to Olson's hometown on Saturday before facing Saint Michael's College in Colchester, Vt., on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. The Seahawks finish their dual match schedule with a home contest versus Mt. St. Mary (NY) next Saturday in Newport.

Tennis Match Results
Salve Regina vs Babson
04/13/12 at Wellesley, Mass.
(Farwell Courts)

Babson 8, Salve Regina 1

Singles competition
1. Alex Freeman (BAB) def. Nichol Stevens (SRU) 6-0, 6-2
2. Sarah Whitaker (BAB) def. Elizabeth DiFilippo (SRU) 6-1, 6-1
3. Rebecca Stone (BAB) def. Ana Gwozdz (SRU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Minte Tamoshunas (BAB) def. Karlee Walther (SRU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Monica Mercer (BAB) def. Elizabeth Liguori (SRU) 6-2, 6-0
6. Erica Shay (SRU) def. Courtney Fischer (BAB) 5-4, retired

Doubles competition
1. Sarah Whitaker/Alex Freeman (BAB) def. Elizabeth DiFilippo/Meg Olson (SRU) 8-0
2. Rebecca Stone/Ashley Lake (BAB) def. Ana Gwozdz/Elizabeth Liguori (SRU) 8-0
3. Victoria Lorido/Alexis Ferraro (BAB) def. Olivia Johnson/Nichol Stevens (SRU) 8-1

Match Notes:
Salve Regina 8-7
Babson 13-7
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,2,1,6,4,5)
T-2:22 A-56