Salve Regina to host Hard Court Triples

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina University women's tennis has invited three other schools (Clark University, Johnson & Wales University, and UMass Dartmouth) to join the Seahawks in the first ever Hard Court Triples Tournament on Saturday, April 6 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

While Salve Regina continues to host the Grass Court Doubles (established 1984) as a fall event at the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, the women's tennis program wants to establish this unique hard court event in its on-campus spring schedule.

"We had matches with the Wildcats and Corsairs rained out in the fall," said Seahawk head coach Ed Habershaw. "Both programs wanted to get some tennis in the spring so I came up with this opportunity to get a lot matches in one day."

Four schools enter three triples combinations for play on six courts (requires nine players per school for a total of 36 participants). There will be a total of 36 matches on the six courts (18 doubles and 18 singles; all are eight-game pro-sets), with 12 in each flight.

Each player must play one singles match during one of the three round-robin meetings; other two teammates will play a doubles match. Each player will finish the day playing one singles and two doubles matches.

Competing for Salve Regina in Triple A are juniors Ana Gwozdz (Taunton, Mass.), Elizabeth Liguori (Westerly, R.I.), and freshman Kasey Walther (Natick, Mass.). The Triple B entries are sophomores Elizabeth DiFilippo (West Chester, Pa.), Meg Olson (Colchester, Vt.), and freshman Isabelle Weatherby (Newport, R.I.). The Triple C players for the Seahawks are freshmen Alia Barefoot (Killingworth, Conn.), Julie Grant (Warwick, R.I.), and Lindsey Macedo (Berkley, Mass.).

"The uniqueness of this event allows each program to experiment with different doubles combinations," added Habershaw. "I like the branding aspect of Grass Court Doubles and Hard Court Triples, too. Both events showcase doubles play while the latter includes singles action."