Panthers have little trouble sinking Anchorwomen 

            PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Plymouth State University women's tennis team had little trouble in defeating Rhode Island College in a Little East Conference match Saturday at the P.E. Center courts, sinking the Anchorwomen, 9-0.

            PSU swept the three doubles matches by lopsided scores, then took five of the six singles matches in straight sets.  PSU, which finished with a 3-9 record last year, improved to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in LEC matches this season.  Rhode Island College, which won five straight LEC regular season titles from 2003-07, dropped to 0-11 overall and 0-6 in conference matches.

            Sophomore Rachel Figura (Cheshire, Conn.) won the most exciting match of the day, defeating RIC's Shannon Bilodeau (Seekonk, Mass.) in a third-set tiebreaker at No. 3 singles.  Junior Lydia Smith (Marblehead, Mass.) was a winner at No. 4 singles to remain undefeated in singles this season (9-0), and Figura and Smith were victorious at No. 2 doubles, upping their season mark together to 6-3.

            PSU's other four players were also all double-winners, capturing victories in both singles and doubles.  They included sophomore Sara Burke (Barrington, R.I.), junior Laura Donovan (Acton, Mass.), and freshmen Molly Heartfield (Dorset, Vt.) and Jane Duggan (Saunderstown, R.I.).

            PSU wraps up the regular season next week with three road contests, beginning Monday with an LEC match at Bridgewater State (2:00 p.m.)  RIC returns home to host UMass Boston in an LEC match Monday at 1:00 p.m. 

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