Women's Tennis Locks Up Postseason Berth with 8-1 Win at Saint Michael's Tuesday

Women's Tennis Locks Up Postseason Berth with 8-1 Win at Saint Michael's Tuesday

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COLCHESTER, Vt. – Winning all but one match on Tuesday afternoon against Saint Michael's College, the Merrimack College women's tennis team secured a berth in next week's Northeast-10 Championship with an 8-1 victory over the Purple Knights from the SMC Tennis Courts.

The Basics
 Score: Merrimack 8, Saint Michael's 1
Records: Merrimack (8-4, 8-4 NE-10) | Saint Michael's (6-6, 5-5 NE-10)
Location: SMC Tennis Courts | Colchester, Vt.

NE-10 Postseason Outlook
 The top-six programs qualify for the NE-10 Championship with the top-two seeds receiving byes to the semifinals; With today's win, Merrimack clinched a postseason berth

1. Stonehill (10-1)
2. Assumption (9-2)
3. Southern New Hampshire 8-2)
4. Bentley (8-3)
5. Adelphi (8-3)
6. Merrimack (8-4)
7. Saint Michael's (5-5)
8. Saint Anselm (5-5)
9. Le Moyne (5-6)
10. Franklin Pierce (3-9)
11. New Haven (2-10)
12. American Int'l (1-11)
13. Saint Rose (0-11)

How It Happened (Doubles)

  • No. 1 – Senior Grace Messina (Caracas, Venezuela) and sophomore Mana Seifaei (North York, Ontario) ensured a Warriors lead entering singles with an 8-3 victory at the first flight
  • No. 2 – Saint Michael's salvaged a point during doubles play with an 8-4 win at No. 2, besting the duo of Danielle Dunn (Middleton, Mass.) and Mackenzie Blair (Thomaston, Conn.)
  • No. 3 – The combination of sophomore Lauren Persson (Barnstable, Mass.) and freshman Mia Briggs (York, Maine) needed only nine games to give Merrimack the early lead, 8-1, over the Purple Knights

How It Happened (Singles)

  • No. 1 – Messina only lost a pair of games against Nicole Kellogg of Saint Michael's, winning at No. 1 in straight sets (6-1, 6-1)
  • No. 2 – Seifaei continued her strong singles surge towards the end of the year, blanking her opponent in the opener (6-0) before a 6-1 clincher in the second set
  • No. 3 – Persson rebound with another two-set win for Merrimack, 6-1 and 6-1, over Colleen O'Keefe
  • No. 4 – Dunn also played one of her best singles matches of recent memory, collecting a 6-2 win to begin the match followed by a 6-1 victory in the second set
  • No. 5 – Mirroring her teammates at the first four flights, Blair prevailed in straight-set fashion at the fifth spot, 6-0 and 6-1, against Caroline Sumner
  • No. 6 – Briggs played an eight-game match at the final flight, winning in 10 games (8-2) over Katie Costa to secure the final point of the afternoon for the Navy and Gold

Results
 Doubles

1. Grace Messina/Mana Seifaei (MER) def. Nicole Kellogg/Abby Ramsay (STM) 8-3

2. Amelia Weeks/Caroline Sumner (STM) def. Danielle Dunn/Mackenzie Blair (MER) 8-4

3. Lauren Persson/Mia Briggs (MER) def. Riley Kruger/Marissa Landry (STM) 8-1

Singles

1. Grace Messina (MER) def. Nicole Kellogg (STM) 6-1, 6-1

2. Mana Seifaei (MER) def. Abby Ramsay (STM) 6-0, 6-1

3. Lauren Persson (MER) def. Colleen O'Keefe (STM) 6-1, 6-1

4. Danielle Dunn (MER) def. Amelia Weeks (STM) 6-2, 6-1

5. Mackenzie Blair (MER) def. Caroline Sumner (STM) 6-0, 6-1

6. Mia Briggs (MER) def. Katie Costa (STM) 8-2

Up Next
 Merrimack awaits its opponent in the opening round of next week's NE-10 Championship, which begins Wednesday, Oct. 19.

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