SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – The Union College women's tennis team came up just short in its bid for a Senior Day victory on Sunday afternoon, falling by a 4-3 score to St. Lawrence University in the final match of the regular season on Sunday afternoon at the Union Tennis Courts.
The loss locks Union (6-11, 4-4 Liberty League) into the fifth seed for the upcoming Liberty League Tournament, where the Garnet Chargers will take on Skidmore College in the first round on Friday. St. Lawrence (13-4, 6-2 Liberty League) clinches the third seed with the victory.
Before the match, Union recognized their five graduating seniors –
Kennedy Alexis,
Sydney Alphabet,
Claire Langille,
Chara Meidani and
Skylar Semon – who comprise the winningest class in Union tennis history with a combined 39 wins so far during their four years.
Union started the day with a pair of doubles wins to grab the early lead. Langille and Semon made quick work of Ariana Karera and Elisa Iuri at the second flight in a 6-1 win, and Alexis and Meidani earned the clinching win with a 6-3 first-flight victory over Angelica Aksdal-Jansen and Molly Jespersen.
St. Lawrence got out quickly in singles play with wins at third and fourth singles, but Alexis evened the match with her second win of the day at the sixth flight, 6-2, 7-5 over Ellie Fritz. First-year
Megan McCusker added to Union's total with a pair of 6-2 sets to defeat Eleanor McDermed at the fifth flight to put Union one win away with two matches left.
Aksdal-Jansen got past Semon at the top flight to even the match and leave it to Meidani and Iuri at second singles to decide a winner. Iuri eked out a 7-6 (8-6) first-set win, but Meidani earned a pair of breaks in a 6-3 second set to send the matchup to a decisive third set. Meidani had a pair of early breaks to take a 3-0 lead, but Iuri broke back twice to even the frame at three-all. After three straight held serves, Iuri broke at 5-4 to pull out the 6-4 victory and win the match for the visitors.
Union will return to action on Friday in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament against Skidmore at Cornell University's Reis Tennis Center.
