HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 20, 2021) – Playing for the first time in over a calendar year, and playing at home for the first time in nearly two years, the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s tennis team didn’t drop a single set in defeating Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham Campus 9-0 Saturday in a non-conference matchup at the Stevens Tennis Courts.
Stevens won all three doubles flights, while also capturing all six singles matches in moving to 1-0 on the season, while FDU dropped to 0-1. The matchup is the first of two meetings between the Ducks and the Devils, the second of which will count towards the MAC Freedom standings and will be contested in mid-April. The victory marked the first head coaching win at Stevens for Arik Zeevy.
“It was great to get out and compete today,” Zeevy said. “We learned a lot and are looking forward to hitting the practice court this week.”
Today’s contest was the first meeting between the programs since Sept. 5, 2007, with the Ducks holding what is believed to be a 5-1 advantage in the all-time series. Four of the Ducks’ victories over their nearby rival have come via shutout. Stevens has claimed each of the last five meetings.
The season-opening victory marked the first competitive action for the Ducks since playing at Salisbury University on Mar. 7, 2020. Stevens last played on the friendly confines of its on-campus venue on Apr. 14, 2019 against William Smith College.
“It was great to get back into competitive match play and I’m really proud of how supportive the team was today,” commented senior Makenna Sargis. “We learned a lot from each match and have a lot to work on during practice, but it was extremely fun to get back into a competitive atmosphere.”
It was Sargis and classmate Chelsea Braithwaite that put Stevens on the scoreboard first, earning an 8-0 victory over Maggie Cronkhite and Emily Prachthauser at No. 3 doubles. For Braithwaite, it was her first action since the Spring of 2019.
Junior Alexis Fuda paired with sophomore Audrey Heaberlin to give the Ducks their second win of the season, topping Erin Weller and Kayla Dello Iacono, 8-4. Fuda was tied for the team lead in doubles wins (6) one season ago.
The Ducks completed the doubles sweep with an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles, with the tandem of junior Agatha Malinowski and senior Gabriella Tantillo besting FDU’s top pairing of Nicole Delrosso and Kira Bradley. Malinowski and Tantillo played one match as a team one season ago.
Moving over to the individual matches, Heaberlin dropped only two points to Bradley at No. 2 singles and Sargis topped Weller in straight sets for the match-clinching victory.
Fuda topped Dello Iacono at third singles, needing a first-set tiebreaker to earn the victory. Malinowski extended the lead to seven with Tantillo and Marchisio claiming victory at fifth and sixth singles to close out the victory. Marchisio’s win provided an exclamation point to the afternoon, topping Prachthauser without dropping a single point.
Up Next: The Ducks head to Reading, Pennsylvania for a non-conference matchup with Alvernia University on Mar. 27. It is believed to be the first meeting between the programs.
Please note that all event times, dates and opponents are subject to change and fans remain prohibited from attending Middle Atlantic Conference athletic events.
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