DARTMOUTH, Mass. -Â Senior Day was a success for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth women's tennis team as the Corsairs came away with an 8-1 victory over West Conn to clinch home-court advantage in the first round of the Little East Conference Tournament.
Prior to the match, the team celebrated the accomplishments of seniors
McKenzie Ferrari and
Alanna O'Connell.
The Corsairs (11-5, 5-3 LEC) will be the fourth-seed in the tournament and host fifth-seeded Plymouth State, while the Wolves (4-11, 2-6 LEC) miss their chance at the postseason.
"It was an uneven team performance," said Head Coach
Doug Chapman. "But it became good in the end. Western Connecticut was playing for their playoff lives, and they started the match with some urgency. We needed to match that, and we were fine once we did."
UMass Dartmouth raced ahead by sweeping doubles. Juniors
IsaBella Winter and
Ailey Riddick won 8-3 to finish the regular season 12-3. Sophomore
Zuri Walters and O'Connell took their match, 8-0, and Ferrari and junior
Caroline Lemieux were 8-5 winners.
Winning in singles were Winter (6-2, 6-3) to close the regular season 14-2, Yaing (6-4, 6-1), O'Connell (5-7, 6-0, 12-10) to improve to 13-3 on the year, Riddick (6-1, 6-3) and Freshman
Bailey Clarke (7-6 (7-0), 6-0).
UMass Dartmouth hosts Plymouth State on Tuesday for the first round of the LEC Tournament. Match time is to be determined.
