BRONXVILLE, NY – The Iona University women's tennis team earned a 4-3 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College on Tuesday afternoon in its home opener at the Meyer Athletic Center. The Gaels swept doubles competition before securing three singles victories to clinch their second dual-match win of the season.
DOUBLES
Iona opened the afternoon with a strong showing in doubles action, sweeping all three matches to secure the opening point.
The rookie tandem of
Alexis Gard and
Isabella Djokic picked up the first victory at No. 3 doubles, defeating Lisa Matz and Monica Blucher, 6-2. Juniors
Lara Lanno and
Garance Laforet followed with a 6-3 victory over Emma Huber and L. Dematas-Gonzalez at the No. 1 position to clinch the doubles point.
First-year duo
Chinonso Okpara and
Saanvi Raniga completed the sweep at No. 2 doubles, earning a 6-4 victory over Shreethika Vangala and Nina Derkac.
SINGLES
The Gaels carried their momentum into singles competition, winning the first three completed matches to secure the team victory.
Djokic led the charge at No. 6 singles with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 victory over Blucher for her first individual win of the season.
Okpara followed with a convincing 6-1, 6-1 win over Dematas-Gonzalez at the No. 2 position to put Iona one point away from victory.
Lanno delivered the clinching point at No. 1 singles, defeating Huber in straight sets, 6-0, 7-6.
STAC claimed the remaining three singles matches to narrow the final margin. Laforet fell to Vangala, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 3 singles, while Gard dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Matz at No. 5.
The final match of the afternoon featured a tightly contested battle at No. 4 singles. Raniga bounced back from dropping the opening set, 7-6, to take the second set, 6-3, and force a deciding match tiebreaker. Derkac edged Raniga, 12-10, in the tiebreaker to secure the third point for STAC.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will conclude the fall schedule with a home match against Wagner on November 6 at 3 p.m. from Meyer Athletic Center.
