The Lehman College women's tennis team (0-4 Overall, 0-1 CUNYAC) is still searching for its first victory of the season after falling to the SUNY Purchase Panthers by a score of 8-1 Tuesday afternoon at the APEX Tennis Courts in the Bronx.
The Panthers took a commanding 3-0 lead after doubles play. At No. 1 doubles, it was SUNY Purchase's team of Melanie Lopez and Collie Laninga outlasting Lehman's outstanding pair of Evauna Neville and Aurora Peters by a score of 8-6. At No. 2 doubles, the Lightning's Natalee Smith and Gabriela Harewood fell to the Panthers' Tatyana de Muns and Sara Loe 8-1, and Lehman's Amaia Liriano and Dalia Rodriguez fell to SUNY Purchase's Jennifer Cruttenden and Alyson Lopez, 8-0.
When play switched over to singles, the Panthers put an exclamation point on their victory, capturing five of the six singles contests. Despite the Panthers' good karma in the singles competition, the Lightning fought hard. Peters picked up a victory at No. 2 flight singles by downing Laninga by scores of 6-2, 6-3, and at No. 3 flight singles, Smith put up a valiant effort but fell to de Muns 6-1, 6-3. Despite the loss, Head Coach Zack Davis remained optimistic.
“We're giving it our all each and every match, and sooner or later I do believe that our hard work will pay off,” Davis said. “We're also adding a few players to our team, and I feel they will give us depth and make us better-rounded. Hopefully we'll keep playing hard and eventually find ourselves on the right track.”
Neville dropped both her singles and doubles matches, but prior to the match, the City University of New York Athletic Conference named her Player of the Week, and it was the second consecutive week that she earned that honor.
Lehman will return to action on Thursday afternoon as the Lightning take to the road to battle the City College of New York Beavers in a CUNYAC match, with match-time scheduled for 3:30pm.
