Panthers nipped in final set of the day 

            PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth snuck past Plymouth State University in the third set of No. 6 singles to earn a 5-4 win over the Panthers in a Little East Conference (LEC) tennis match at the UMD Courts on Saturday.

            PSU took two-of-three doubles matches for an early lead, but the hosts responded with wins in three-of-five singles matches to knot the score at 4-4. Junior Jenna Sundquist (Monument Beach, Mass.) won the first set at No. 6 by a 7-5 margin, but sophomore Jackie Bokis (Spencer, Mass.) came back to win the final two sets by identical 6-3 margins to secure the win.

            Plymouth State drops to 6-4 on the season and 3-2 in the Little East, while UMass Dartmouth improves to 7-3 and 3-2 in conference play.

            The Basics:

            Plymouth State 4, UMass Dartmouth 5

            Plymouth State (6-4, 3-2 LEC)

            UMass Dartmouth (7-3, 3-2 LEC)

            How it Happened.

• Sundquist and junior Kerstin Venincasa (Sutton, Mass.) secured an 8-3 win at No. 2 doubles and the freshmen tandem of Kira Winter (Eliot, Maine) and Hanna Street (New Castle, N.H.) captured a point at No. 3 with an 8-7 (7-1) win.
• No. 1 doubles was also a tightly contested match, as junior Maggie McCarthy (Marion, Mass.) and freshman Megan Marshall (Dartmouth, Mass.) were nipped by an 8-7 (7-4) margin.
• UMass Dartmouth captured wins at No. 1, 2 and 3 singles, but Venincasa posted a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4, while Street took No. 5, 6-3, 6-2.
• With the result coming down to the final singles match of the day, Sundquist pulled out a narrow 7-5 win in the opening set, but Bokis answered with consecutive wins.

            Inside the Numbers:

• Street recovered from her first singles loss on Thursday to improve to 8-1 on the year.
• Venincasa and Sundquist improved to 7-2 as a team, while Venincasa has won six-of-eight singles matches on the year.

            Straight from the Coach's Mouth:

            "The match was tied 4-4 and came down to No. 6 singles," said head coach Barbara Rawlsky-Willett. "Jenna [Sundquist] won the first set, but lost the second so a third set had to be played to decide the match. The final set was full of long points and great effort by both players."

            Up Next:

• Plymouth State remains in LEC action on Wednesday (Oct. 2) when the Panthers host the University of Southern Maine at the Holderness School Courts for a 4:00 p.m. match.

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