CASTLETON, Vt. — Despite splitting single wins, the Western Connecticut State University women's tennis team dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 match at Little East Conference (LEC) opponent Vermont State University Castleton on Saturday. The Wolves moved to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in the league, while the Spartans improved to 4-5 and 1-3.
The doubles decision ultimately led to the narrow loss by the Wolves. At No. 2 Doubles,
Erickah Tertulien (Norwalk, Conn.) and
Keira Hammond (Carmel, N.Y.) gave up a 3-1 lead and lost 7-5 to give Castleton the point.
Lesley Coronel (Danbury, Conn.) and
Caroline Illescas (Danbury, Conn.) coughed up a 4-1 lead, losing the next five games for the hosts' first win across the doubles matches.
In singles, needing four courts to come back for the win, the match was tied 3-3 as
Elsie Sabol's (Pleasantville, N.Y.) at No. 5 went to a third set for the overall match, but the sophomore dropped the final set 7-5. Coronel nabbed the first Singles point at No. 3 with a 6-2, 6-1 win. The Spartans won at No. 2 and No. 4 Singles, but Hammond's 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 6 kept the visitors in the game. Tertulien kept the Wolves in the fight at No. 1 in a 6-4, 6-3 triumph. Sabol's match came down to the wire as they exchanged back-to-back games throughout. Sabol built a 5-4 lead, but lost the next 3 games, which clinched the win for Castleton.
WestConn returns to the Westside Tennis Courts on Wednesday for an LEC match against Bridgewater State University at 3:30 p.m.
"This loss today was difficult. Elsie carried us to the very end and gave it everything she had. She's the reason why we even almost won," head tennis coach
Shawn Stillman said. "We lost today because of the result of all of our doubles courts, and this can come back to haunt us as we fight for playoff contention."
