COLCHESTER, Vt. - Ten different Saint Michael's College women's tennis players earned at least one victory on Sunday, helping the Purple Knights knock off American International College, 8-1, in the Tarrant Recreation Center. In its first match since Oct. 6, Saint Michael's improved to 3-0 overall and 3-0 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Yellow Jackets are 0-2 and 0-2.
Junior Samantha Purnell (Stowe, Vt./Stowe) and sophomore Kayla Dowd (Longmeadow, Mass./Longmeadow) blanked their opponent at No. 3 doubles, with Purnell earning her first college victory in her first appearance. Senior Alex Dalton (South Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) and sophomore Caroline Martin (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) picked up an 8-2 win in the second position, and seniors Emily Magee (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) and Jean-Marie McGrath (Niwot, Colo./Alexander Dawson School) won 8-3 at No. 1.
During singles play, Dalton blanked her foe at No. 3. Sophomore Hannah Benoit (Mystic, Conn./Saint Bernard School), first-year Alexandra Sulkin (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich) and sophomore Caroline Toutoungi (Weston, Conn./Weston) followed suit in the fourth, fifth and sixth spots, respectively. First-year Erica Bundrick (Mattituck, N.Y./Mattituck) picked up a 6-3, 6-0 win in the second slot, while Magee grabbed the first set at No. 1 before suffering a 5-7, 6-2, 11-9 loss to first-year Manon Janin (Tours, France/Notre Dame La Riche).
Saint Michael's breaks until March 11, when it begins a four-match Spring Break trip to Orlando, Fla., by opposing Adelphi University for an NE-10 match. A defending regular-season conference tri-champion and a 2012 NCAA Tournament qualifier, Adelphi was ranked eighth in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region rankings.
