Tennis Edged 5-4 by Newbury in Season Finale
NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's tennis team saw its season come to a close with a 5-4 loss to Newbury College on Sunday afternoon at the Mitchell College Tennis Courts.
Mitchell started the match with a 2-0 lead, as Newbury (2-12 overall, 2-7 NECC) had only five players and was forced to forfeit points at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles. The Nighthawks, however, evened the match at 2-2 after sweeping the remaining doubles points. Newbury then won three of five singles matches to seal the overall team victory.
Kristen Conners and Jennifer Swafford defeated Mackenzie Flanagan and Amanda Resnick by an 8-2 final at the top doubles spot. Alexandra Derderian and Julie MacLeod completed the doubles competition with an 8-3 victory over Marisa Haggett and Jennifer Schmidt at the No. 2 position.
Swafford, Derderian and MacLeod each picked up critical points in the singles matches to give the Nighthawks the team victory. All three won in straight sets, with Swafford defeating Resnick 6-2, 6-0 at No. 2, Derderian beating Julie Embley 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3 and MacLeod besting Haggett 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4.
Mitchell's singles win came at the No. 1 and 5 spots. Flanagan defeated Conners 6-1, 7-5 at the top spot to finish the season with an overall singles record of 9-3 (7-3 NECC). Schmidt also picked up her third conference win of the season by finals of 6-1, 6-1 over Olivia Iafrate.
Mitchell concludes the season with an overall record of 1-11 (0-10 NECC).