Women's Tennis Celebrates Senior Day Wednesday; Warriors Fall to Assumption, 5-4

Women's Tennis Celebrates Senior Day Wednesday; Warriors Fall to Assumption, 5-4

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NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Senior Grace Messina (Caracas, Venezuela) played in her final regular-season home match on Wednesday afternoon against the Assumption Greyhounds, as the captain of the Merrimack College women's tennis program was honored in a pre-match ceremony. In the contest that followed from North Andover High School, the Greyhounds held on for a 5-4 Northeast-10 Conference victory.

The Basics
 Score: Assumption 5, Merrimack 4
Records: Merrimack (7-3, 7-3 NE-10) | Assumption (10-1, 9-1 NE-10)
Location: North Andover High School| North Andover, Mass.

How It Happened (Doubles)

  • No. 1 – Messina and sophomore Mana Seifaei (North York, Ontario) returned from their semifinal run at the ITA East Regionals to face the Greyhounds' Cassie Burbine and Hannah Riley. With the score at 4-3 in favor of Assumption, the visitors won four of the final five games to take a 1-0 lead in the match
  • No. 2 – The middle flight finished last, with a back-and-forth duel ensuing featuring juniors Danielle Dunn (Middleton, Mass.) and Mackenzie Blair (Thomaston, Conn.). The classmates were serving for the match with a 7-6 lead, but the Greyhouds held on for the break before winning in a tiebreak, 9-8
  • No. 3 – Sophomore Lauren Persson (Barnstable, Mass.) and freshman Mia Briggs (York, Maine) evened the match at a point apiece by pulling away for an 8-5 victory. The duo did not trail at the third flight

How It Happened (Singles)

  • No. 1 – Before the match, Messina was honored on her incredible career at Merrimack that includes three NE-10 Player of the Year honors, the program's first-ever national ranking and over 120 victories. Fittingly, she followed suit by blanking Burbine at the top flight, 6-0 and 6-0.
  • No. 2 – Seifaei rebounded from an early exit at ITA Regionals over the weekend with an impressive straight-set victory over Riley at the second flight
  • No. 3 – The first of two three-set singles matches, Persson forced a final frame with a 6-2 second-set win, but faltered in the final set
  • No. 4 – Dunn suffered a two-set loss at the fourth flight, bowing out against Assumption's Maria Monje
  • No. 5 – Blair's match at fifth singles went to a 10-point tiebreaker in the third set after each player won a frame, with the Warriors junior prevailing in the opener, 6-4. The breaker went in favor of the visitors, clinching the match for Assumption
  • No. 6 – Briggs continued her strong debut season, as the ECAC Rookie of the Month won in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-2, in the final singles flight

Results
 Doubles
1. Cassie Burbine / Hannah Riley (ASM) def. Grace Messina/Mana Seifaei (MER) 8-4
2. Paige Benoit / Maggie Holland (ASM) def. Mackenzie Blair/Danielle Dunn (MER) 9-8 (7)
3. Mia Briggs/Roberta Marcos (MER) def. Maria Monje / Camille Latoni (ASM) 8-5

Singles
1. Grace Messina (MER) def. Cassie Burbine (ASM) 6-0, 6-0
2. Mana Seifaei (MER) def. Hannah Riley (ASM) 6-2, 6-3
3. Paige Benoit (ASM) def. Lauren Persson (MER) 6-1, 2-6, 6-2
4. Maria Monje (ASM) def. Danielle Dunn (MER) 6-0, 6-2
5. Camille Latoni (ASM) def. Mackenzie Blair (MER) 4-6, 6-2, 10-4
6. Mia Briggs (MER) def. Maggie Holland (ASM) 6-2, 6-2

Up Next
 The Navy and Gold travel to Bentley on Saturday for a league match in Waltham, Mass. at 12 p.m.

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For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.

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