PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Manhattanville University women's tennis team opened up the 2026 season in dramatic fashion on Saturday afternoon, outlasting Baruch in a 4-3 nailbiter on the Manhattanville Tennis Courts. The Valiants open the season with a victory for the fourth-consecutive season.
Seeing action for the first time since the NCAA Tournament in May, four key pieces of last year's championship team looked to already be firing on all cylinders to open doubles.
Addison Ortiz (Bronx, N.Y./High School for Health Professions and Human Services) and
Adrianna Filippelli (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd) defeated Anusha Yadav and Cindy Joyette 6-1 on the No. 2 court, while
Amaya Ortiz (Bronx, N.Y./High School for Health Professions and Human Services) and
Jenifer Lalman (Schenectady, N.Y./Schenectady) handled business in No. 1s against Aishika Yadav and Eveline Aleksandrov soon after, 6-2, to capture the doubles point. Another returner from last year's championship squad
Maria Gutierrez (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) teamed with sophomore
Maddie Maras (Brunswick, M.D./Brunswick) in her Manhattanville debut. The tandem held off Jacqueline Moreno and Ruth Kay Madariaga 7-6, winning the breaker 7-3.
Lalman carried the momentum in singles, quickly defeating Doyeong Lee 6-1, 6-0 in No. 4s to put the Valiants up 2-0. Baruch came back to tie up the match as Aishika Yadav defeated Filippelli 6-1, 6-4 in No. 1s and Joyette bested
Addison Ortiz (Bronx, N.Y./High School for Health Professions and Human Services) 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 in No. 3s.
Maras put the Valiants back in front with her victory over Aleksandrov in the No. 6 flight, rebounding from a 6-1 opening set loss to take the next two, 6-2, 6-4. Baruch responded with Anusha Yadav defeating
Amaya Ortiz (Bronx, N.Y./High School for Health Professions and Human Services) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, leaving the deciding point in the hands of the No. 5 draw.
Gutierrez took the upper hand against Maria Calvo Prado 7-6 in the opening set, winning the breaker by a final of 8-6. As if one marathon set wasn't enough, the second would also go to breaker, with Calvo Prado winning 7-6 (7-4). A back-and-forth third set followed, but Gutierrez would remain standing tall once the dust settled, winning the flight and the match with a 7-5 decision.
Up Next
The Valiants are back in action on Wednesday when the team travels to New Paltz for a 3:30 p.m. matchup with the Hawks.
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