NEWPORT, R.I. – Wheaton College (Mass.) junior women's tennis player Haylee Doiron (Lowell, Mass.) and first years Lily Runyan (New Milford, Conn.) and Lydia Branson (Bowdoin, Maine) combined to advance to the Doubles C Flight Championship, before falling today at the Grass Court Doubles Championships (Clash on the Grass) at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, R.I.
The Lyons tallied eight points in the seven-team competition hosted by Salve Regina University. Roger Williams University scored 12 points to place first, ahead of Colby-Sawyer College and Gordon College, who each racked up nine points to tie for second place.
The doubles team of Doiron and Runyan won their quarterfinal match, before Doiron teamed with Branson to take the semifinal match for Wheaton to advance to the bracket final. Doiron and Runyan combined to outlast the Roger Williams duo of senior Annette Carter (Bedford, N.H.) and first year Claire Dwyer (Manchester, Maine), 6-5 (7-1) in the opening quarterfinal round of the C bracket. Doiron and Branson had little trouble in the semifinals, posting a 6-2 victory over the Salve Regina tandem of junior Madigan Murphy (York, Maine) and Sophia Padro (North Haven, Conn.). The Lyons' run came to an end in a 6-2 loss to Roger Williams senior Gabrielle Petroniro (Wolcott, Conn.) and junior Adriana Palmieri (Southington, Conn.) in the bracket championship over Runyan and Branson.
The Wheaton senior duo of Kara Greenlee (San Antonio, Texas) and Alissa Ortiz (El Paso, Texas) cruised in their quarterfinal match of the Doubles A Flight with a 6-1 showing over the pairing of Roger Williams sophomore Meghan Hughes (Watertown, Conn.) and Salve Regina junior Emma Robert (Weston, Conn.). Greenlee and Ortiz were stopped in the semifinals by Gordon sophomore Makayla Otey (Greer, S.C.) and first year Lucille Belval (Avon, Conn.), 6-5 (7-4).
The Lyons featured the junior tandem of Laila Haraj-Sai (Madison, Conn.) and Asia-Leigh Hollis (Hamilton, Bermuda) in the Doubles B Flight. The pair battled, but were defeated in the quarterfinals by Colby-Saywer junior Maria Espinosa Lopez (Merida, Mexico) and sophomore Avery Nielsen (Thornhill, Ontario) by a count of 6-5 (7-5). Haraj-Sai and Hollis rebounded to win the flight's consolation final with a 6-2 effort over Gordon juniors Chloe Hanley (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and Serena Ross (Boerne, Texas).
Wheaton returns to action tomorrow when it travels to Western Massachusetts to compete in the New England Women's Invitational Tennis Tournament hosted by Smith College and Amherst in Northampton and Amherst, Mass., respectively, at 1:00 p.m.
