Women’s Tennis Puts Three into Main Singles Draw at ITA East Regional
FLUSHING, N.Y. (September 16, 2019) – The Franklin Pierce University women's tennis team was in action over the weekend at the ITA East Regional Championship, hosted at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The Ravens had three individuals advance through qualifying and into the tournament's main singles draw.
Freshman Laura Alvarez Tello (Vigo, Spain), freshman Liria Loria (La Paz, Bolivia) and graduate student Himani Mor (Sonipat, India) all had to advance through two rounds of qualifying just to get into the main draw. Once there, Loria was able to advance out of the first round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Goldey-Beacom sophomore Salome Lang, before falling in the second round,6-2, 6-1, to 14th overall seed Magdalena Hubickova, a freshman from Southern New Hampshire University.
Meanwhile, Alvarez Tello and Loria both exited in the first round. Alvarez Tello suffered a 6-3, 6-2 defeat at the hands of the 13th overall seed, freshman Maia Makal of Queens (N.Y.). Mor took the 15th overall seed, Stonehill freshman Cristina Solorzano Valencia, to three sets, but ultimately dropped a 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8) decision.
Earlier, in qualifying, Mor swept away Molloy freshman Chelsea Christian, 8-0, in the first round, before taking an 8-5 decision from Queens freshman Aleksandra Caricic in the second round to advance to the main draw. Alvarez Tello moved through to the main draw courtesy of an 8-1 win over District of Columbia senior Estefania Castrillon and an 8-4 win over sophomore Brooke Fernandez. Loria made her way through with a first-round bye and then an 8-2 win over USciences graduate student Julia James.
Also active in the qualifying bracket was senior Sarah Rich (Windham, Maine), who suffered an 8-4 defeat in the first round against Assumption freshman Aimee Figgins.
All four Ravens participated in the 63-team doubles tournament as well. Mor and Liria made a run all the way to the third round to lead the charge for Franklin Pierce. They posted an 8-2 win in the first round over Molloy junior Sarah Moehrlein and freshman Christina Molloy, and an 8-6 win in the second round over St. Thomas Aquinas sophomore Carla Mentrup and freshman Ayesha Burnett, before falling 8-2 in the third round to Stonehill junior Isabelle Porter and freshman Steffi Antao, the tournament's sixth overall seed.
Elsewhere in the draw, Alvarez Tello and Rich were ousted in the first round, 8-0, by Adelphi freshmen Amanda Franstedt and Julia Kielan.
The Ravens return to the court on Tuesday, Sept. 17, when they return home to host Le Moyne in a Northeast-10 Conference match at 2:30 p.m. in Rindge.
For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (https://www.fpuravens.com). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce tennis apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://www.shopfpuravens.com).