Women's Tennis Falls to Eastern Nazarene, 7-2

BRIDGEWATER, Mass.- The visiting Eastern Nazarene College women's tennis team notched a 7-2 non-conference victory over Bridgewater State University on Thursday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.

The Lions improve to 6-2 on the season with the win, while the host Bears fall to 3-6 overall.

Eastern Nazarene captured two of the three doubles matches and five of the six singles flights to record the victory.

In doubles play, junior Emily Ruttkowski (Castrop-Rauxel, Germany) and freshman Magdalena Hubel (Berlin, Germany) paired up for an 8-4 triumph at number one, while the senior tandem of Sharon Biondi (Barquisimeto, Venezuela) and Veronica Jimenez (Lynn, Mass.) posted an 8-2 decision at the second flight.

Junior Olivia Sweeney (Taunton, Mass.) and sophomore Vanessa Rosa (Taunton, Mass.) picked up the Bears' lone doubles point with an 8-6 win at number three.

Biondi earned a 6-3, 6-1 straight set decision at first singles to give the Lions a 3-1 lead.

BSU grad student Rachel Tarantino (Mansfield, Mass.) cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 straight set victory at the sixth flight to narrow the gap to 3-2.

The third flight match was decided with a super tie-breaker as Hubel recorded a 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 decision to give ENC the 4-2 lead. Ruttkowski secured the deciding fifth point for the Lions with a 6-4, 6-3 straight set decision at the second spot.

Eastern Nazarene also received singles victories from Jimenez at the fourth flight (6-3, 6-4) and freshman Maria Busila (Malaga, Spain) at number five. Busila's tightly contested win over BSU senior Angelique Gray (Barnstable, Mass.) was decided in a super tie-breaker and also featured a first set tie-breaker, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 10-4.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday afternoon. The Bears travel to the University of Southern Maine for a noontime Little East Conference (LEC) match with the Huskies, while the Lions entertain Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Albertus Magnus College at one.