HOUGHTON, N.Y. — The Houghton University women's tennis team secured its first victory of the season Saturday, defeating Utica University 5-2 in an Empire 8 matchup at the Kerr-Pegula Field House.
Houghton set the tone early by sweeping all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. The top duo of
Sage Brinckerhoff and
Zoe Zachery earned a 6-4 victory over Utica's Lyndsey Tiedemann and Hannah Loebbaka. At No. 2 doubles,
Victoria Martinez and
Abigail Lloyd shut out Utica's Eh Nay Than and Andrea May 6-0, while
Prashansa Chakrapani and
Jessica Fornah picked up a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles over Saige Burton and Hannah Slater.
The Highlanders maintained their dominance in singles play, winning four of the top individual matchups in straight sets. Brinckerhoff earned a 6-0, 6-3 win at No. 1 singles over Tiedemann, and Martinez followed with a matching 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles over Than.
Zachery delivered a 6-1, 6-3 win against Loebbaka at the No. 3 spot, and Lloyd completed the top-singles sweep with a commanding 6-2, 6-0 win over May at No. 4.
Utica picked up two points late in the lineup. At No. 5 singles, Chakrapani took the opening set 6-4 for Houghton before Alexis Brennan rallied to claim the match 4-6, 6-4, 10-4. Burton closed out the afternoon for Utica with a 6-0, 6-4 victory against Fornah at No. 6 singles.
Houghton returns to action Saturday, Oct. 3, when it hosts Sage in another Empire 8 match starting at noon.
