GALLOWAY, N.J. (Oct. 2, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's tennis team started the day strong by winning two of the three doubles points against Stockton University, but it was not enough as the Ospreys took five of the six singles points to hand the Ducks a 6-3 loss Saturday at Stockton Tennis Courts.
Audrey Heaberlin and
Agatha Malinowski teamed up to take home a victory at line two doubles while
Emma Eguia and
Juliette Marchisio grabbed a thrilling win a flight three doubles to give the Ducks an early 2-1 advantage. Malinowski was able to grab a win at line one singles as well, but Stockton swept the other five to hand Stevens its first defeat of the 2021-22 season.
The Ducks now close their fall season with a 1-1 overall record and four Middle Atlantic Conference individual titles. They will now turn their attention to the spring where they look to capture the MAC Championship title for the first time.
"We put ourselves in position to get a win versus a strong opponent today, but came up just two sets short," head coach
Arik Zeevy said. "Emma and Juliette won a close match at third doubles to put us up 2-1 going into singles play. Agatha, Audrey and Alexis were all up a set in singles, but credit to Stockton for fighting back and raising their level. Tough loss, but a valuable experience for our team heading into the off-season."
To start the day, Malinowski and Heaberlin were dominant at the first flight of doubles as they took down Stockton's combination of Sarb Devi and Lily Muir 8-2. The duo is now 3-1 when playing together in their careers at Stevens and a perfect 2-0 this season.
Eguia and Marchisio, meanwhile, teamed up for the first time in their respective careers and had a matchup to remember as they beat Brynn Bowman and Jenna Bryszewski 8-7 (7-4) in extra points.
Leading 2-1 heading into singles play, Malinowski gave the Ducks their third point after capturing a win in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. She has now won each of her last seven singles matchups in match play competition and has not dropped a set since March 7, 2020, against Salisbury.
Heaberlin and
Alexis Fuda also got off to solid starts in their respective singles competitions. Heaberlin was able to take a 6-2 set win in the opening set of line two while Fuda won 6-1 at line three.
Neither student-athlete was able to hold on, however, as Heaberlin fell 6-2, 3-6, 3-6 and Fuda dropped her matchup 6-1, 3-6, 2-6.
Elsewhere in singles play,
Isabella Dona (line four), Marchisio (line five) and Eguia (line six) all fell in straight sets.
It was the first win for the Ospreys over Stevens since grabbing a 6-3 victory on Oct. 3, 2007 as the Ducks had won each of the last three meetings prior to this matchup.
Next Up: Stevens has now concluded its fall season and will return to the court for conference play in March of 2022, looking to win their first conference title since the 2017-18 season.
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