Results

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Down by three points after doubles competition, the Manhattanville women's tennis team roared back in singles competition to take five of the six singles points and pull off a hard-fought 5-4 victory over host Purchase College in a non-conference match on Thursday evening at the Purchase Courts.

Knowing that the team needed to essentially sweep the singles play to pull out a victory against a team that the Valiants lost to 7-2 last year, Manhattanville came out and dominated the Panthers and went 5-0 at the top-five flights to pull off the improbable win.

The Valiants' come-from-behind victory was no better epitomized than by the win of junior Bo Siek (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) at third singles that sealed the improbable comeback win. Siek lost the first set to senior Tatyana de Muns by a 6-4 score, but she kept the pressure on and earned a pair of breaks in the second set to pull out a 6-2 win and send the match to a third set. With the entire match on the line, Siek continued her great play in the final frame, earning a 6-3 win to give Manhattanville its first victory of the year.

“It an uphill battle in the singles, but to the team's credit they fought hard and dominated the singles matches to complete an unlikely comeback,” head coach David Slater said. “I am very proud of the team and the way that they fought when it would have been easy to give up after the doubles. They showed determination and great maturity in being able to turn things around.”

Other than Siek's win, many of the singles wins came easily for the visitors, led by the top-two flighted competitors, sophomore Nell Kucich (Manhasset, N.Y.) and freshman Laura Fortunato (Providence, R.I.). At first singles, Kucich disposed of freshman Moriah Ormsby with a pair of 6-2 sets, while Fortunato – who was moved up from fourth singles to second singles before her second collegiate match – won her second straight with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph over sophomore Tova Hadar.

The Valiants' third and fourth points came courtesy of senior Kaitlin Triano (Rye, N.Y.) and sophomore Joeliza Valdez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) at the fourth and fifth singles flights, respectively, to keep the visitors alive. Triano made quick work of junior Alyson Lopez in a 6-2, 6-1 win and Valdez finished up soon after thanks to a 6-4, 6-2 victory over freshman Ashley Bernhardt, evening the match at four and setting the stage for Siek's heroics.

Manhattanville played well in doubles competition to start the day, but a few breaks went the way of the Panthers to allow them to take an early lead. Siek and Fortunato came up one break short in their second-doubles match against de Muns and Bernhardt, 8-6, while the same fate befell Valdez and junior Gliceida Galarza (Santiago, Dominican Republic) at third doubles against junior Michelle Gil and sophomore Kim Whitehead in their 8-6 defeat. Nevertheless, the Valiants were able to overcome their early struggles and earn a much-needed win.

“We are a young team and have a lot more potential,” Slater added. “Obviously we need some work on our doubles play, but who can fault the team when they were able to pull out a win after being down by so much early on. The team produced an excellent win against a very good Purchase College team.”

Manhattanville (1-1) will play its first home match of the year and also close out the fall portion of its dual match schedule on Wednesday, October 6 when the Valiants host Kean University at the Manhattanville Courts starting at 3:30 p.m. Purchase (3-2) will host Farmingdale State College on Wednesday at 7 p.m.