NORTON, Mass. -- The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's tennis team was defeated by visiting Endicott College, 6-3, this afternoon in dual-match play at Beard Fieldhouse in Norton, Mass. The Lyons fall to 2-2 on the season, while the Gulls improve to 5-2.
Wheaton received all of its points in singles play after Endicott swept doubles action to take a 3-0 lead.
Senior Miriam Galindo Cerrada (Madrid, Spain), first year Izzy Kruse (Woodstock, Ga.) and sophomore Zoe West (Flushing, N.Y.) all bounced back in singles play for the Lyons with a trio of victories that all went the three-set tie-breaker route.
Kruse was the first to finish, rebounding after dropping the opening set, 6-4, to Gulls' sophomore Kaitlin Fitzgibbons (Nashua, N.H.), to win the second frame, 6-3, to set up the 10-point tie-breaker. Kruse jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but Fitzgibbons closed to within 6-5, before Kruse won the next four points to win the match at fifth singles.
Galindo Cerrada battled back and forth with Endicott first year Lejla Guster (Wethersfield, Conn.) at first singles, going up 4-1, before facing a 5-4 deficit to the rookie in the first set. Galindo Cerrada won the next two points to take the set, 7-5. Guster owned a 5-4 edge in the second frame as well, but her host came back to take a 6-5 lead, before Guster forced the tie-breaker. Guster won the second-set tie-breaker, 7-3, to even the match at one set apiece. Guster took an early 5-2 lead in the final set, but Galindo Cerrada stormed back with eight of the final 10 points to take the set and the match at 10-7.
West finished the match with a three-set win over Endicott sophomore Angleina Ciardi (New Fairfield, Conn.) that saw her win the opening set, 6-2, before falling in the second, 6-3. West reclaimed her first set swagger to take the final set, 10-4.
Sophomore Shelby Henry (Lincoln, Neb.), first year Ripley Uyeda (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and junior Olivia Berler (Marstons Mills, Mass.) were all winners in both doubles and singles play for the Gulls.
Henry paired with Guster to earn an 8-6 victory at first doubles over the Wheaton pair of Cerrada and sophomore Mareike Mueller (Amesbury, Mass.). Uyeda and Berler teamed at number two doubles for an 8-5 win over the Wheaton senior duo of Alexis Acosta (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Katie Steinberg (Cumberland, Maine).
Berler won in straight sets at fourth singles to give Endicott the fifth point of the match to secure the dual match victory. She defeated Mueller by a count of 6-4, 6-2, while Uyeda began singles play with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Steinberg. Henry's singles win came at number two over Acosta with a 6-4, 6-2 effort.
The Gulls scored their first point of the day at number three doubles, courtesy of junior Ashley Keaveney (Exeter, N.H.) and senior Fernanda Trevino (Dallas, Texas), who combined for an 8-1 win over the Lyons pair of Kruse and West.
Wheaton returns to action this weekend at the New England Women's Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament on Friday, October 8 at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., while Endicott travels to Wenham, Mass. on October 7 to take on Gordon College at 3:30 p.m.
