RINDGE, N.H. (10/21/22) – For the third straight year, the No.2 Franklin Pierce University women's tennis punched their ticket to the Northeast-10 Championship final following their victory over No.3 Le Moyne College in the semifinal round Friday afternoon, winning by a score of 4-3.

The Ravens advance with a record of 10-1 (9-1 NE10) overall, and will face-off against top-ranked Southern New Hampshire University in the title round. The Dolphin's season comes to a close with the second-round loss, as they finish the fall 9-5 (5-3 NE10) overall.

To open the action, the Dolphins claimed a 1-0 match-lead after winning the doubles point. At the No.1 position, the solo Raven victory belonged to senior Liria Loria (La Paz, Bolivia) and graduate Ana Platisa (Belgrade, Serbia) after a hard-fought 7-5 set final over Dolphins Stella Simeonova and Francesca Lilliegren. At No. 2 doubles, Maria Penalver (Las Palmas, Spain) and Aynara Ferraz (Canary Islands, Spain) kept the action close with opponents Fiona Pepper and Isabella Barona, but came up short in a tiebreaker set in a narrow 7-6 loss to Le Moyne.

From singles, the Ravens bounced back with a pair of wins to open the action, with Maria Penalver (No.1) and Ana Platisa (No.2) posting consecutive wins by set scores of 6-2, 6-0 to give the Ravens their first lead of the afternoon. However, the Dolphins continued to battle with a victory at No.3 singles from Paula Casares, setting the stage for a close finish. After Le Moyne would eventually take back a 3-2 match lead with a sixth singles victory, the Ravens found fortune at the No.5 position from Aynara Ferraz, who locked the score up at 3-3 with a pair of 6-4 set wins.

In dramatic fashion, the action came down to a head-to-head showdown at No.2 singles between Liria Loria and Isabella Barona, who each played to lengthy tiebreakers through the first two sets, each earning a 7-6 win. With some momentum on their side, Loria finished the task with a 6-3 win in the third set to secure the singles majority for the Ravens, sending them to the next round in style.  

The Northeast-10 title match between the Ravens and the Penmen is scheduled to be played on Sunday, October 23^rd beginning at 1 p.m.