MANCHESTER, N.H. - In a match-up of regionally-ranked Northeast-10 Conference women's tennis squads, eighth-ranked Saint Michael's College fell to No. 7 Southern New Hampshire University, 7-2, on Thursday at the Southern New Hampshire Tennis Courts. The Purple Knights slipped to 6-3 overall and 5-1 in the league, while the Penmen, who have won the past three conference tournament titles and qualified for the last four NCAA Tournaments, are 11-6 and 8-0. Both teams are ranked in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Region poll.
Saint Michael's suffered defeats in all three doubles spots, including seniors Emily Magee (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) and Jean-Marie McGrath (Niwot, Colo./Alexander Dawson School) slipping at No. 1, 8-2, to senior Alena Mukdaprakorn (Hartford, Conn./Kingswood Oxford) and sophomore Diana Vamvakitis (Wading River, N.Y./Westhampton Beach), the 22nd-ranked tandem in the nation. Senior Alex Dalton (South Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) and sophomore Caroline Martin (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) came the closest to taking a point, falling 8-4 at No. 2.
In singles play, the visitors captured two matches against a Southern New Hampshire squad that had suffered only one singles setback in its first seven NE-10 outings. At No. 3, two players who entered the day perfect in league play met, with Dalton victorious thanks to a 6-4, 6-0 decision against senior Amanda Albuquerque (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth/Wright State), who had been 7-0. In the fourth position, sophomore Hannah Benoit (Mystic, Conn./Saint Bernard School) picked up a 7-5, 6-2 victory. Martin neared winning the opening set in a 7-6 (10-8), 6-2 loss at No. 5, while Toutoungi suffered a 6-3, 7-5 defeat in the sixth spot.
The Purple Knights' top two singles players opposed regionally-ranked foes, with Magee slipping to the sixth-ranked Mukdaprakorn, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 1 and Bundrick falling by the same count at No. 2 to the 11th-ranked Vamvikitis.
Saint Michael's returns to Manchester, N.H., next Wednesday to take on Saint Anselm College at 3 p.m. in its first of three matches in four days.
