DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Fourth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth defeated fifth-seeded Plymouth State University, 4-0, in the first round of the Little East Conference (LEC) Women's Tennis Tournament at the UMD Courts on Tuesday afternoon.
The Corsairs earned the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3 to take an early lead. The hosts added straight-set wins at Nos. 1, 3 and 6 singles to improve to 11-6 and advance to Thursday's semifinal round at third-seeded UMass Boston. Plymouth State's season ends with an 8-6 record, marking the most wins in head coach
Kathy Peverly's five-year tenure.
The result marked the final collegiate match for seniors
Chloe Ahern (Middleton, Mass.),
Anyah Fields (San Diego, Calif.) and
Sofia Orama (Marlborough, Conn.).
The Basics:
- Plymouth State 0, UMass Dartmouth 4
- Plymouth State (8-6)
- UMass Dartmouth (11-6)
How it Happened:
- The Corsairs took No. 1 doubles, 6-1, then clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 win at No. 3.
- UMass Dartmouth earned a 6-1, 6-0 win over sophomore Amelia Laidlaw (New Boston, N.H.) at No. 6 singles, then added a 6-1, 6-3 victory at No. 3, where sophomore Sidney Huff (Port Orchard, Wash.) competed, to extend the lead to 3-0.
- The Corsairs clinched the match with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Ahern at No. 1.
- Junior Lauryn Corrigan (Littleton, N.H.) dropped a narrow 7-5 first set at No. 2 singles, then won the first two games of the second set before the match was decided.
- Fields pushed her opponent at No. 5 singles, dropping the first set in a tiebreak, 9-6.
- Sophomore Leela Bakhshi (Plymouth, N.H.) dropped her opening set at No. 4 singles, 6-1, but held a 4-3 lead in the second set when the match was completed.
By the Numbers:
- Plymouth State's eight wins are its most since 2021.
- Fields ended the season with a 9-3 singles record, including an 8-1 mark at No. 6, to lead the team in wins.
- Bakhshi and Huff finished with eight and seven singles wins, respectively.
- Bakhshi and Huff tied for the team lead with eight doubles wins apiece.
- Fields and Bakhshi posted a team-best 7-3 record as a pair, while the duos of Ahern and Corrigan and Huff and Orama also earned seven wins each.
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