PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville College men's and women's tennis team returned as varsity programs this past fall, and resumed Middle Atlantic Conference (Freedom) play for the first time since that reinstatement this afternoon, Saturday, March 30. The Valiants defeated King's College (Pa.) at the Manhattanville Tennis Courts in both the men's and women's matches.
 
WTEN: Manhattanville 5, King's 4
The Valiant women (2-2, 1-0 MACF) defeated the Lady Monarchs (5-7, 0-1 MACF) by a score of 5-4. King's won the first match of the day at third doubles to take the early 1-0 lead, but Manhattanville took the next two at second and first doubles, respectively, to enter singles play with the 2-1 lead.
 
Rookie Renay Charley (Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) made it 3-1 Valiants to start off singles play when she took down defending MAC No.1 singles champion Emily Fernandez in three sets, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. Junior Izzy Lovejoy (Madison, Conn./Forman School) came next with a straight-set victory at third singles, 7-5, 6-4. The Lady Monarchs won the next two matches at second and fourth singles and now trailed the Valiants by only one at 4-3.
 
In her tennis program debut, sophomore captain Sunny Tonnesen (Oslo, Norway/EF Academy) – a member of the women's soccer team in the fall – locked in the first MAC Freedom victory for the Valiants since Sept. 24, 2009, as she bested her foe at fifth singles in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, for the fifth Manhattanville match win of the afternoon.
 
MTEN: Manhattanville 8, King's 1
After a slow start to their first spring season since 2012, the Valiant men (3-5, 1-0 MACF) have now won three of their last four matches, including Saturday's 8-1 defeat of King's (4-7, 0-1 MACF). Manhattanville swept doubles play against last season's second-ranked conference squad to take the early 3-0 lead heading into singles action.
 
The Valiants kicked off singles with wins at third and first singles by rookie Alvaro de la Plaza (Malaga, Spain/Homeschooled (Laurel Springs, Calif.)) and junior captain Juan Huertas (Bogotá, Colombia/La Salle (H.S.) (Calif.)), respectively, en route to their first conference win since April 14, 2012. Manhattanville won three of the final four matches on the day to lock in the eight-match victory.
 
FULL RESULTS
WOMEN
Doubles: (3,2,1)
1) Charley/Lizza Gonzalez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/The Ashton School) (M) def. Fernandez/Coffee (K), 8-4
2) Lovejoy/Samantha Altman (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) (M) def. Gale/Zalutko (K), 8-6
3) Santarelli/Reynolds (K) def. Tonnesen/Cassie Williamson (White Plains, N.Y./The Ursuline School) (M), 8-2
Singles: (1,3,2,4,5,6)
1) Charley (M) def. Fernandez (K), 6-4, 0-6, 6-3
2) Coffee (K) def. Gonzalez (M), 0-6, 6-4, 6-2
3) Lovejoy (M) def. Gale (K), 7-5, 6-4
4) Rodriguez (K) def. Altman (M), 7-5, 6-3
5) Tonnesen (M) def. Zalutko (K), 6-3, 6-2
6) Seasock (K) def. Stephanie Strumm (M), 6-4, 6-1
 
MEN
Doubles: (3,1,2)
1) Huertas/Jan Senkerik (Zlin, Czech Republic/The Hill Academy) (M) def. Millan/Mackey (K), 8-3
2) de la Plaza/Dylan Crowley (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) (M) def. Tuck/Harth (K), 8-6
3) Maguire Balke (Yardville, N.J./Steinert)/Dylan Mund (Washington Township, N.J./Westwood Regional) (M) def. Homschek/Holland (K), 8-4
Singles: (3,1,2,6,4,5)
1) Huertas (M) def. Millan (K), 7-6, 5-7, 10-4
2) Senkerik (M) def. Mackey (K), 6-4, 6-2
3) de la Plaza (M) def. Tuck (K), 6-3, 6-2
4) Harth (K) def. Alex Fleischman (Riverside, Conn./King) (M), 4-6, 6-3, 10-2
5) Crowley (M) def. Homschek (K), 6-3, 6-4
6) Balke (M) def. Holland (K), 6-0, 6-2
 
Due to the impending rain for tomorrow, Sunday, March 31, both Valiant squads have had their non-conference matches canceled. The next time each team will hit the court will be for a pair of road MAC Freedom matches at Wilkes University next Saturday, April 6, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Action will get underway at 1:00 p.m.