NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Jennifer Lord (Fall River, Mass.) won in straight sets at first singles on Saturday afternoon as Mount Ida finished their women's tennis schedule with an 8-1 defeat at Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Albertus Magnus.
Lord scored a 6-4 victory in the first set and was ahead 5-2 before her opponent, Zaida Velazco (Dominican Republic) retired. It was the first singles point of the year won by a Mount Ida student-athlete and the first of the freshman Lord's collegiate career in which she has battled the top players of each opponent.
Lord also battled hard at first doubles, where she and Patti-Ann Doucette (Lynn, Mass.) fell to Velazco and Malika Grant (Brooklyn, N.Y.), 8-3.
The Mustangs took three games in each of the other two doubles spots as well. At the second position, Becky Kowalski and Victoria Messinger (Southbury, Conn.) fell to Stephanie Thy (New Haven, Conn.) and Sandybell Anorga (Stamford, Conn.) while Crissa Branco (Fall River, Mass.) and Alicia Ritchie (Andover, Conn.) were upended by the same score at third doubles by the team of Teresa Piniero (New Haven, Conn.) and Sharinna Luna (Bronx, N.Y.).
Doucette dropped down to play at the third singles position, where she took three games from Grant in the first set before falling 6-3, 6-0.
Mount Ida also took single games in the first set at fourth singles, between Ritchie and Anorga, and fifth singles, where Lizzie Trautz (Sandown, N.H.) fell 6-1, 6-0 to Pineiro.
Danielle Barnabe (Warwick, R.I.) was defeated 6-0, 6-0 by Sogona Sacko (New York, N.Y.) at the sixth singles position, the same score that Thy was able to beat Kowalski at second singles.