ITHACA, N.Y. – The fifth-seeded Union College women's tennis team had its comeback effort fall short in a 4-2 loss to fourth-seeded Skidmore College in the first round of the Liberty League Tournament on Friday afternoon at Cornell University's Reis Tennis Center.
Union (6-12) won a pair of singles matches and were close in several others, but could not complete the upset bid as Skidmore (6-13) took the doubles point and then three of the five completed singles matches.
The Garnet Chargers were close in two of the three doubles matches, but the Thoroughbreds were able to pull out the opening point. Union came one break short in a 7-5 second-doubles loss to clinch the first point, while seniors
Kennedy Alexis and
Chara Meidani were up 6-5 when their first-doubles match was halted.
Skidmore grabbed a 2-0 lead after a win at first singles, but Union came back with wins at the fifth and sixth flights to even the score. Senior
Kennedy Alexis cruised past Ruth Wilson in a 6-1, 6-0 victory at the sixth flight, while first-year
Megan McCusker won her eighth straight singles match with a pair of 6-2 sets to defeat Mia Rosenberg in fifth-singles action.
The Thoroughbreds clinched the win with straight-set wins at the second and third flights. Meidani came up one break in both second-singles sets against Amalie Gonzalez in a 6-4, 6-4 loss, and classmate
Claire Langille could not rebound from a first-set tiebreaker loss in a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 defeat to Ellie Lake.
Senior
Sydney Alphabet was likely on her way to a fourth-singles win when the clinching point was recorded, holding a 2-0 lead in the third set of her match with Maggie English after the players split a pair of 6-2 sets to start the day.
The loss brings an end to the stellar four-year careers of Union's five seniors – Alexis, Alphabet, Langille, Meidani and
Skylar Semon – who will graduate with a program-record 39 wins over their four seasons.
