Feb. 24, 2008

Hanover, New Hampshire - Stony Brook's women's tennis team came close to picking up its first win of the spring season on Sunday, falling just one victory shy of defeating Rutgers in a match that was decided by a 4-3 score. In a closely contested match, senior Sandy Wijeratne (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) had a straight sets win during the afternoon, scoring her 7-6, 6-0 victory at the No. 3 position for the Seawolves.

Rutgers picked up the first point of the day when it took all three of the doubles matches. The closest of the three came at the No. 1 position where Stony Brook's duo of sophomore Paola Rodolfi (Asuncion, Paraguay) and junior Erica Federgreen (Scottsdale, Ariz.) dropped an 8-5 decision.

In singles play two of the five matches played went to three sets and in two of the other three contests the victor had to win seven games to claim a set win. The match came down to the No. 1 and No. 5 positions where Stony Brook had to gain wins to take the match. Rodolfi came through at the No. 1 contest, coming back after dropping the first set to gain a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Katrina Elder-Bush. The Scarlet Knights came out on top in the other match, however, when Christine Tran pulled out a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 win over freshman Fanny Charliquart (Gueugnon, France) to secure the triumph for Rutgers.

Up next for Stony Brook will be a trip to Boston for its first America East match of the season. The Seawolves will take on Boston University on Sunday, March 2 at 10:00 a.m.

Rutgers 4, Stony Brook 3

Doubles

1. Arlak/Zhang (RU) def. Rodolfi/Federgreen, 8-5

2. Elder-Bush/Tran (RU) def. Wijeratne/Vovsha, 8-3

3. Zarester/Baker (RU) def. Charliquart/Murugan, 8-1

Singles

1. Paola Rodolfi (SBU) def. Katrina Elder-Bush, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1

2. Amy Zhang (RU) def. Erica Federgreen; 6-1, 6-1

3. Sandy Wijeratne (SBU) def. Katherine Arlak, 7-6, 6-0

4. Caitlin Baker (RU) def. Victoria Vovsha, 7-5, 6-3

5. Christine Tran (RU) def. Fanny Charliquart, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3

6. Shaina Murugan (SBU) wins by default