KINGSTON, Pa. (May 8, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's tennis team won two of the three doubles points on the day but were unable to grab the three more wins needed to take home the title as they fell 5-3 to Wilkes University Saturday in the MAC Freedom Championship.
The Ducks won the doubles points at both flights one and two and also got a singles win from
Audrey Heaberlin but fell in the other contests as they finish the season 9-2 overall. Wilkes, meanwhile, moved to 13-0 on the year and won the MAC Freedom Tournament for the 14th consecutive year.
At flight one doubles to start the day, Heaberlin and Sargis teamed up to take home an 8-5 win and moved to 9-1 this season, avenging their only loss against Wilkes earlier this season.
'I'm so proud of this group for their fight today," head coach
Arik Zeevy said. "After getting swept at doubles by Wilkes a week ago, we made some adjustments and took a 2-1 lead heading into singles. Audrey and Makenna won their first sets and Gabi was locked in a back-and-forth match as well. In the end, Wilkes was just a little too strong for us and got to five points first. This team has been through a lot over the last two weeks and today we showed what being a Duck is all about. I want to thank
Elsa Bley,
Julia Cairns,
Caitlin Carroll,
Nina Burden,
Kristin Tribel and
Jeff Parker for all their support over the last two weeks. We wouldn't have made it this far without them, and we will always be grateful to them."
Gabriella Tantillo and
Juliette Marchisio teamed up to win the flight two doubles point by a score of 8-3 as the duo improved their record to 4-1 this season in doubles play. They also avenged their lone loss of the season earlier this year against the Colonels.
In singles play, Heaberlin was able to cruise to a 6-1, 6-1 straight set win at line one as she improved her singles record to 8-1 this season with all eight wins coming in straight sets and four of them coming at line one.
Sargis looked poised to join Heaberlin in the win column as she took the first set 6-3 and was tied 4-4 in the second before her match was called when the Colonels reached the five-point threshold.
Wilkes was able to take home the title by winning at line three doubles and lines three, four, five and six in singles. They will now advance to the NCAA Tournament where they will await their fate in the NCAA selection show on Monday.
Stevens' .818 winning percentage to close the season is the best since 2000 when they went 17-0. Looking ahead, the Ducks will return four student-athletes who won at least four singles matches this season.
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