CAMBRIDGE, MASS. – The historic Manhattanville University women's tennis season came to a close on Friday afternoon with a loss to the 42
nd-ranked College of New Jersey in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Valiants officially wrap the year with an 8-5 record across the academic year. Following the team's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
A squad that had depleted numbers since the team had won the conference championship back in October, the Valiants brought five to their regional matchup held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a result, Manhattanville defaulted No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles to the Lions before stepping onto the court.
Rookie phenoms
Suzi Doyle (Devon, England/Exeter College) and
Addison-Mercedes Ortiz (Bronx, N.Y./High School for Health Professions and Human Services) took to the top flight to take on Chase Eisenberg and Zoey Albert, losing to TCNJ's top pairing 0-8. The Valiants' seniors of
Bea Pretnar (Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) and
Sara King (Schenectady, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) concluded their undergraduate careers by partnering in No.2 action, falling to Aira Abalo and Marcella Warner 0-8 to send the match to singles play with Manhattanville trailing 4-0.
TCNJ needed to win just one singles draw to win the match as a result of the defaults, with Warner sending the Lions into the next round after defeating
Mikhalia Grant (Mount Vernon, N.Y./New Visions Charter High School for Advanced Math and Science II) in No. 5 play, 6-0, 6-0.
While the rest of the singles matches remained unfinished following the Lion match-clincher, Pretnar found herself leading over Abalos 3-2 in the first set when the match came to a close. Doyle dropped the first set to Albert in No. 2s 0-6 before taking a 1-0 lead in set two. Ortiz dropped her first set to Eisenberg 1-6 in the No. 3 flight, while King trailed 0-6, 0-3 against Prisha Priyadarshini on court four.
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