NEWTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida women's tennis team captured an 8-1 victory over Albertus Magnus College on Monday afternoon, earning their first victory in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play in three years.
The Mustangs (1-8, 1-4 GNAC) last took a conference victory on October 8th, 2011, when they beat Anna Maria 5-4. That was also the last home victory for Mount Ida, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead by sweeping all three doubles matches against the Falcons (3-7, 0-4 GNAC).
Freshmen Olivia Budney (Webster, Mass.) and Rebecca Levy (Plymouth, Mass.) were 8-5 winners at first doubles over Malika Grant (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Zaida Velazco (Dominican Republic), and Elizabeth Olszewski (Granville, Mass.) and Patti-Ann Doucette (Lynn, Mass.), both playing in their final home matches as Mustangs, paired together to win 8-4 at second doubles over Sogona Sacko (New York, N.Y.) and Kelsea Wildman(Hamden, Conn.).
Victoria Messinger (Southbury, Conn.) and Danielle Barnabe (Warwick, R.I.) finished off the doubles sweep with an 8-3 victory over Shamain McAllister (Irvington, N.J.) and Renita Moore (Manhatten, N.Y.).
Olszewski slid into the first singles spot for Mount Ida and was victorious over Velazco, 6-4, 6-2, while Levy beat Grant 6-2, 6-2 at the #2 spot.
Budney beat Wildman 6-1, 6-2 at third singles, but Sacko was able to salvage a point at the fourth spot with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Kaytlen Putnam (Falmouth, Mass.).
Joining the match for Mount Ida was Alicia Ritchie (Andover, Conn.), who beat Moore 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 at fifth singles, and Rose Schneider (Lowell, Mass.), who handled McAllister by a 6-2, 6-1 score-line.
The win is just the second in the last two years for the Mustangs, who last were victorious on September 12th when they travelled to Lesely and emerged with a 5-4 victory.
Mount Ida concludes their 2014 regular season with a trip to Anna Maria on October 18th at 12:00 pm. With a win in that game, Mount Ida could assure themselves a return to the GNAC playoffs for the first time since 2011.
Albertus travels to Johnson & Wales at the same time for their regular season finale.