Pictured Above: Senior Rina Baynes (Credit: Larry Levanti)
Staten Island, NY - Fresh off its dual match opening win at Monmouth on Tuesday afternoon, the Wagner College women's tennis team gears up for back-to-back matches this weekend, beginning on Friday morning when the Seahawks host UC Irvine at 9:00 a.m. at the Wagner Tennis Courts, before traveling to Fairfield, CT on Saturday, October 6 to take on Fairfield.
Wagner (1-0) vs. UC Irvine (0-0) | Friday, October 5, 2018 | 9:00 AM | Staten Island, NY | Wagner Tennis Courts
- The Wagner College women's tennis team welcomes the University of California Irvine (UC Irvine) Anteaters of the Big West conference, to Grymes Hill opener.
- Friday morning's contest against UC Irvine is the first-ever meeting between the programs.
- Friday also marks the first time in Wagner women's tennis history the that Seahawks will be squaring off against a member of the Big West Conference.
- The UC Irvine women's tennis team is kicking off its 2018-19 season with a trip to the east coast to play a busy weekend of matches against teams from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
- UCI will play split-squad matches against Wagner, Monmouth and Drew on Friday, October 5 before traveling to play travel Sacred Heart and Siena on Saturday, Oct. 6.
- The Anteaters will wrap up the trip with games against Fairfield and Marist on Sunday morning.
- UC Irvine welcomes back eight players from a 2017-18 squad that finished with a 9-15 overall record (1-7 in Big West conference play)
- Senior Stephanie Hazell played all of last year at the No. 1 singles and doubles spots, posting a 3-12 singles record and a 4-12 doubles record.
- Junior Yulin Chen led the Anteaters in dual-match wins last season with ten
- Flora Amiri and Arianna Tilbury tied for second-most doubles wins with 11 each.
Wagner (1-0) (as of 10/4/18) @ Fairfield (2-0) | Saturday, October 6, 2018 | 12:00 PM | Fairfield, CT | WAC Tennis Courts
- Saturday's contest between the Seahawks and the Stags is just the third all-time meeting between the two programs, with the head-to-head series tied at 1-1.
- All-time against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), Wagner is 27-60 (.310).
- The Seahawks have posted nine wins against MAAC member Monmouth.
- Last season, Wagner was edged by the Stags, 4-3, at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, CT.
- Fairfield clinched the first overall point after sweeping through doubles action but not without resistance from the visiting Seahawks.
- In the final doubles match, the pairing of Brenda Cumpa and Carolyn Gibson battled to the very end at No. 3 doubles against the duo of Gabriella Campos and Courtney Connors before falling, 7-6 (7-3).
- The Stags claimed a 2-0 lead with an early 6-2; 6-1 victory at No. 2 singles as Diana Prinos defeated junior Rina Baynes. Wagner was able to get on the board at No. 1 singles play as second-year Seahawk Vedika Anand was able to get past Sarah Stuhlmann, 7-5; 6-1.
- Fairfield increased its lead to 3-1 after Anna Komer defeated Cumpa, 6-3; 6-0 at No. 4 singles play. The Seahawks kept pace as senior Samantha Hodges outlasted Emily Lombardi, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 at No. 3 play in bringing Wagner within one, at 3-2.
- The Stags clinched the victory at No. 5 as Jessica Pil edged out sophomore Melanie Post, 6-4; 6-2.
- Fairfield improved to 2-0 on the season after defeating Providence, 6-1, on Wednesday afternoon.
- Fairfield women's tennis took down Northeast Conference (NEC) member, Sacred Heart by a score of 5-2 in their home opener on the Walsh Athletic Center Tennis Courts back on September 19.
- The Stags swept through the doubles matches and took five of the six singles matches in securing their second win of the season.
LAST TIME OUT FOR WAGNER...
- The Wagner College women's tennis earned its first win under first year head coach, Alex Petrone, on Tuesday afternoon, defeating the Monmouth University Hawks, 7-0, in West Long Branch, NJ.
- It was the dual match opener for the Seahawks while the Hawks fell to 2-2 on the season.
- The victory marked Wagner's ninth consecutive victory over Monmouth, with the Seahawks' last setback coming back on April 1, 2014 (5-2 decision).
- Wagner took two of three doubles matches in securing the first point of the overall match. Captains Vedika Anand and Rina Baynes earned a 6-2 triumph over the pairing of Nicole Gasser/Maria Ivanova at No. 1.
- The freshmen duo of Samantha Lugtu and Emma Reeves posted their first dual doubles match victory at No. 2 play, besting Alexandra Graff and Caroline Mattise, 6-1.
- The Green & White took all six singles matches. Sophomore Fidan Khalilzade earned a gritty 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 10-5 decision over Graff at No. 1.
- Anand followed suit with a three-set victory over Gasser at No. 2. The junior picked up a 6-3 win in the first set before dropping a 6-4 decision in the second, setting up a deciding third set in which the 2018 All-Northeast Conference (NEC) Second Team honoree was able to post a 10-7 winner.
- Lugtu bested Gabriel at No. 3, 6-1, 6-3 while Baynes was a 6-1, 6-1 victor over Rachel Rosenthal at No. 4.
- Fellow newcomers Diana Pinzariu and Alegra d'Alessandro finished the match with a pair of wins in completing the shutout.
UP NEXT...
- Following this weekend's pair of matches, Wagner returns home for its conference lidlifter, as the Seahawks welcome local rival, St. Francis Brooklyn on Saturday, October 13.
