Pictured Above: 2018-19 Wagner College Women's Tennis Team (Credit: Dave Saffran)
 
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West Windsor, NJ – The No. 6 seed Wagner College women's tennis team's season came to a close as the Seahawks were defeated by the No. 3 seed, Bryant University, 5-0, on Thursday afternoon from the Mercer County Tennis Center.
 
With the loss, the Seahawks conclude the year at 5-11 and a Northeast Conference (NEC) record of 2-3. Bryant, who advances to tomorrow's semifinals against No. 2 seed, Fairleigh Dickinson, improves to 9-10 overall.
 
"I am extremely proud of the team's effort all season long," commented head coach, Alex Petrone. "They fought hard in every match this season, and was pleased with the determination they displayed throughout the day against Bryant. Each and everyone one of them should be proud of their performance and it is truly an honor coaching this group of young ladies."
 
The Green & White started today's quarterfinal match in doubles action as the pairing of co-captains Vedika Anand and Rina Baynes picked up a 6-3 triumph over Ada Boru and Sarah Hickey. For the Seahawk co-captains, it was their seventh doubles victory of the season and sixth out of the No. 1 flight position.
 
Bryant quickly answered back with a win at No. 2 as Megan Tan and Aleksi Gottlieb edged sophomore Fidan Khalilzade and freshman Emma Reeves, 6-3, setting up the deciding third doubles match.
 
A tightly contested match at No. 3 doubles, as freshmen Samantha Lugtu and Diana Pinzariu took on Leanne Kendall and Gabrielle Bergeron. A back-and-forth match favored Bryant this time as Kendall/Bergeron outlasted Lugtu/Pinzariu, 6-4, giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
 
In singles action, Bryant was able to clinch four singles matches to capture the match as they were victorious at No. 1, No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6.
 
At No. 4 and No. 5, Wagner put up a strong effort as in No. 4, senior Rina Baynes came back to force a third set after falling 6-0 in the first set and securing a 6-1 win in the second set before falling 6-2. Reeves was defeated in the first set, 6-3 but forced a tiebreaker in the second set before being edged 7-6 (7-5).
 
For Baynes, she finished her Wagner career with the third-most singles wins (27) and is now the new all-time career doubles wins leader at 32, surpassing former teammate Madison Pautsch's previous mark of 31 (2013-17).  For the Johns Creek, GA native, she concluded with an 11 wins at No. 3, the most during her Wagner tenure.
 
The 2019-20 Seahawks will return seven of the eight members from this year's squad.   

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