The College of Staten Island women’s tennis team erased the sting of a regular season loss to the City College of New York, powering to a 5-1 win over the visiting Beavers as part of CUNYAC Championship Quarterfinal play at the CSI Tennis Center this afternoon. The Dolphins broke a three-game losing skid in the process, lifting their overall record to 7-9 overall (5-3 CUNYAC). The Beavers’ season finalized at 6-7 overall, 5-3 CUNYAC. By virtue of the win, CSI will face top-seeded Brooklyn College in the CUNYAC Championship Semifinals tomorrow afternoon at 4:00pm at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens.
CSI suffered a 6-3 defeat during the regular season at the hands of the Beavers, but earned the first round home game via a tiebreaker in the standings. The Dolphins battled the chill and near 35-mile per hour winds to score the win, picking up a pair of wins in doubles, before winning a trio of singles flights to put the game on ice.
The Dolphins first win was earned at No. 3 Doubles, where the team of Demi-Jean Martorano and Maryna Incherchera were matched up together for the first time this season, blazing past Oluwatobi Ojo and Cicely Blaise, 8-1. Moments later, CSI assumed a commanding 2-0 lead when the team of Ilona Stoyko and Jean Baak scored an 8-1 win over Nataliya Machalaba and Johanna Uquillas, lifting their doubles mark to 2-2 on the season. CSI very nearly pulled off the trifecta, but the CCNY team of Natalie DeSabato and Ayanna Reed came roaring back from 5-2 down, to score a 9-7 win over CSI’s Alena Vedeneeva and Sophia Varriano, keeping the Beavers’ hopes alive.
When play switched to Singles, however, it was all CSI, as the Dolphins surrendered just a handful of points to score the win with the bottom of the order. Martorano at No. 5 gave CSI a 3-1 lead with a 6-0, 6-2, winner over Sherada Bogle. A few minutes later, No. 4 Jean Baak posted her sixth straight singles win, blanking Uquillas, 6-0, 6-0.
As play began on the first three courts, Incherchera at No. 6 took her first set off of Elena Louie, 6-3, and raced through a 6-0 winner in the second set to serve as the match clincher. At the time the match was suspended CSI was also ahead at the other three flights.
CSI will now face No. 1 seeded Brooklyn College as part of semifinal play. The Bulldogs scored a 5-0 win over No. 8 Lehman this afternnon. In the other semifinal, No. 2 Hunter College, a 5-0 winner over. 7 John Jay, will face the winner of No. 3 York College vs. No. 6 Baruch College. The two semifinal winners advance to the CUNYAC Championship Final on Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm at the National Tennis Center.
