Golden Bears Enjoy Successful Weekend at NEWITT
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 17, 2016) – The Western New England University Women's Tennis Team had a successful debut in the 2016 New England Women's Invitational Tennis Tournament (NEWITT) over the weekend. Eight WNE players competed in a draw that contained some of the top DIII schools including national powerhouses Amherst, MIT, Wheaton, and Colby.
Play began on Friday afternoon and followed the Federation Cup format, which is a Best-of-3 matches of each pair playing one doubles match and two singles matches. Play began with the top doubles pair of Joeanna Glantz and Christina D'Agostino losing extremely intense and close matches to Colby Sawyer. The WNE pair of Lauren Sell and Morgan Schrader lost a heartbreaking doubles match in a tie-breaker but both came back to win their singles matches vs. Trinity. The singles victories for Sell and Schrader advanced them to the next round of the main draw which was a highlight for the WNE team having this success playing for the first time in the NEWITTs.
Friday evening continued with outstanding tennis as freshman Rachel Bauer clinched an impressive win against a strong player from Smith. Kim Phu made her singles debut against Smith, losing an impressive battle during her first collegiate singles match. Bauer partnered with Phu in doubles, playing an intense match against the Smith team but were unable to clinch the win. Corey St. Louis and Petra Martinelli teamed up to play Trinity and lost their matches in tough doubles and singles play. Martinelli played the last match as the weather quickly turned from summer to winter like, and she fought until the very last point as she won her first set, lost the second then fell 8-10 in the third set tie-breaker.
The WNE players took back to the courts early on Saturday morning, starting with Sell and Schrader dropping a close 6-8 decision vs. Mount Holyoke. Schrader then lost her first match of the season to Mount Holyoke, while Sell went on to win her match vs. Mount Holyoke in three sets, putting her at 2-0 in singles play. Phu and Bauer battled against Springfield College but were not victorious in their singles or doubles matches. St. Louis and Martinelli played a competitive doubles match vs. Colby Sawyer, dropping doubles but Martinelli moved forward winning her singles match. The tournament came to a close for WNE on Saturday evening after Sell and D'Agostino faced Colby, a top DIII team. Glantz was unable to play on Saturday and this was Sell and D'Agostino's first match together. They adjusted with good communication, determination, focus, and sportsmanship.
"I will always remember this weekend, watching our players go against some of the top teams in the country, never back down, fight for every point, and play with intensity, sportsmanship, strength, and integrity," head coach Jenn Kolins said. "The true competitive excellence that they have worked and strived for was displayed all season and this weekend was no different. They truly showed what it means to be a student-athlete and what being a team means to them…it is a family who believes in themselves and in one another and I could not be more proud to be their coach."
