The College of Staten Island women’s tennis team ended the 2017 regular season with a well-earned win, scoring a road win over Kean University in Union, NJ, 6-3. The win lifted the Dolphins to 8-3 overall as they head into the CUNYAC Postseason Tournament, while the Cougars leveled to 5-5.
Play started with Doubles and the Dolphins got themselves a little cushion, and almost were able to sweep all three flights. In the top spot the duo of Tristiana Adragna and Aziza Jurabaeva got on the board with an 8-2 win over Naylah Hinton and Alyssa Peterson, 8-2. One flight lower, Samantha Maizer and Katherine Villarroel continued their winning ways, finding an 8-1 victory in the No. 2 spot. At No.3, CSI’s team of Hannah Bruschi and Guetanie Romain were locked in a war with Emily Kopp and Rose Hughes, going back-and-forth with the home side. In the end, however, Kean was able to prevail going an extra frame for a 9-7 win to make it 2-1 iverall.
CSI only needed a split of the six singles matchups but they were able to go one better. CSI scored a win in the top two spots, as Maizer took a No. 1 win over Hinton, 6-4, 6-0, and Adragna was just as powerful in a 6-3, 6-2, win over Andrea Mendez.
Kean responded with a 6-3, 6-2, win by Hughes over Jurabaeva at the No. 3 spot, but again CSI tallied two more wins at Nos. 4-5. At No. 4, Villarroel ended her year victorious with a 6-3, 6-3, win over Anna Chan, and a rung lower, Bruschi scored a win over Nicole Nin, 6-1, 6-3. With the match going long and already in CSI’s hand, the No. 6 flight was settled by two super-tiebreakers, but in the end it was Kean’s Kopp over CSI’s Mariah DeGuia, 6-7 (2-10), 10-5, 10-7.
The Dolphins, who have four more matches slated for the spring season are done for now in time for the postseason. They won the CUNYAC Regular Season with a 5-1 record, and earned the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye. They will await the quarterfinal winner from John Jay vs. Lehman in the CUNYAC Semifinals that will be played on Tuesday, October 24, at 3pm, at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.