COLCHESTER, Vt. - The third-seeded Saint Michael's College women's tennis team advanced to the semifinal round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship for the 14th straight year on Tuesday, downing No. 6 University of New Haven, 5-1, during a first-round match in the Tarrant Recreation Center.

The Purple Knights are now 12-4, while the Chargers complete their season at 7-7. Saint Michael's, which is the only team to qualify for the semifinals each year since the league went to a team tournament format in 1999-2000, heads to No. 2 Stonehill College for a 2 p.m. match on Thursday. The Purple Knights are eighth in the latest NCAA regional rankings, while the Skyhawks stand seventh. Stonehill won by a 6-3 count against the Purple and Gold during a regular-season match last week, with one Saint Michael's singles loss coming in three sets and one doubles setback coming by a 9-7 margin.

The Purple Knights grabbed a 2-1 lead after doubles, with senior Alex Dalton (South Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) and sophomore Caroline Martin (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) giving the hosts a quick lead behind an 8-1 win at No. 2. Sophomore Caroline Toutoungi (Weston, Conn./Weston) and first-year Erica Bundrick (Mattituck, N.Y./Mattituck) won the final three games at No. 3 to pull away for an 8-4 victory and make it 2-0.

In the top position, seniors Emily Magee (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) and Jean-Marie McGrath (Niwot, Colo./Alexander Dawson School) rallied from down 5-2 to within 5-4 before dropping an 8-5 decision against sophomore Lindsey Conley (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) and first-year Eva Rybka (Berlin, Conn./Berlin).

During singles play, Dalton yielded one game in a victory at No. 3 before Magee corralled a 6-2, 6-2 triumph in the top spot. Sophomore Hannah Benoit (Mystic, Conn./Saint Bernard School) clinched the match for the Purple Knights by claiming a 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 4.