SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Freshman Lauren Sell notched two victories at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles for Western New England University on Saturday, but it wasn't enough as visiting Salve Regina University overcame a deficit to edge the Golden Bears, 5-4, in the Commonwealth Coast Conference women's tennis opener for both teams at the Volvo Outdoor Courts. The Seahawks were victorious in their 2014-15 season debut while Western New England falls even to 1-1 overall.

"While the result is not what we wanted, the level of play of today's match was incredible for our conference opener with four freshmen in the line-up," stated Western New England coach Jennifer Kolins. "The entire line-up played smart, consistent and aggressive tennis. No one was intimidated of the (CCC coaches poll) pre-season ranking which put Salve well ahead of us in the standings, and they all went out and stuck to their game plan, and fought to the end which led to great success.

"I am excited about the potential of the team, and the focus of our four-match week next week."

Western New England took a 2-1 lead in the match after the doubles competition. Sell and sophomore Joeanna Glantz defeated Kasey Walther and Hayley Maxwell, 8-5, while freshman Christina D'Agostino and junior co-captain Kelly Byrnes teamed up at No. 2 to edge Elizabeth DiFilippo/Meg Olson, 8-6.

In singles, Sell gave the Golden Bears a 3-1 lead after Walther defaulted their No. 1 match-up with the former leading 4-2.

But then Salve Regina made a move to win singles at the Nos. 3, 4, 6 and 2 positions to claim a commanding 5-3 lead. DiFilippo, Taylor Amendola, Courtney Bailey and Emma Gruber were all winners in straight sets.

Sophomore Corey St. Louis turned in one of WNE's most exciting matches at No. 5 singles to account for another Golden Bears point. After dropping the first set to Isabelle Weatherby at 6-1, St. Louis stormed back in the second 6-4 and won the third, 7-6, in a 7-3 tiebreaker.

Western New England hits the court next on Monday (3:30 p.m.) when the Golden Bears host non-conference opponent Sage College.

Singles competition

1. Lauren Sell (WNEW) def. Kasey Walther (SRU) 4-2, default

2. Emma Gruber (SRU) def. Joeanna Glantz (WNEW) 6-3, 6-4

3. Elizabeth DiFilippo (SRU) def. Christina D'Agostino (WNEW) 6-0, 6-2

4. Taylor Amendola (SRU) def. Kelly Byrnes (WNEW) 6-3, 6-3

5. Corey St. Louis (WNEW) def. Isabelle Weatherby (SRU) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)

6. Courtney Bailey (SRU) def. Michele Magliulo (WNEW) 6-0, 6-2

 

Doubles competition

1. Lauren Sell/Joeanna Glantz (WNEW) def. Kasey Walther/Hayley Maxwell (SRU) 8-5

2. Christina D'Agostino/Kelly Byrnes (WNEW) def. Elizabeth DiFilippo/Meg Olson (SRU) 8-6

3. Emma Gruber/Taylor Amendola (SRU) def. Alice Mathews/Jessica Breitweg (WNEW) 8-3

 

Match Notes

Salve Regina 1-0 (1-0 CCC)

Western New England 1-1 (0-1 CCC)

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,3,4,6,2,5)

Commonwealth Coast Conference match.

T-3:31 A-104