by Sebastian Moronta Blanco, Staff Writer

The UMass Dartmouth women’s tennis team traveled down to Newport, Rhode Island this past Saturday to compete in the Grass Court Doubles Championship, facing off against pairs from regional schools. The Championship was hosted by Salve Regina at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport. Five pairs of Corsairs competed in the tournament, seeing the court in three different flights throughout the day in flights A, B, and C. Only two Corsairs in the tournament picked up a win, junior Corsair Mollie McCaffrey of Taunton, Massachusetts, and freshman corsair Jaime Fastino of Rehoboth, Massachusetts. The pair then went to the consolation finals, but were narrowly defeated in a close 9-7 match by Holy Cross Crusaders Morgan McGuire and Allie Reilling. Sophomore Corsair Jenna Lahaie of Lakeview, Massachusetts and Corsair Kerry Magoon of Marshfield, Massachusetts made up the Corsairs best pair. They competed in Flight A in the quarterfinals against Salve Regina and lost 8-5, then headed to the consolation semifinals and lost to consolation champions Isabella Bagi and Katie Elia of Holy Cross. The match concluded once again 8-5. Two more pairs of Corsairs competed in Flight B. Junior Corsair Samantha Rollings met with freshman Natasha Shiku and lost 8-1 to Lindsey Kaplan and Cristina Szepanski of Nichols College. The third Corsair double, sophomore Amelia Ralowicz and freshman Melanie Wong also lost 8-2 in their match against Johnson and Wales’s Madison Hernandez and Delaney Macchirole. The last Corsair duo began with a loss as junior Kheyla Orival of Woburn, Massachusetts and senior Jillian Reichart of Marion, Massachusetts fell to Michelle Lopes and Ari Sullivan of Colby-Sawyer with a final match score of 8-2. The pair then swapped Orival out for junior Molina Oung of to move to the consolation semifinals where they were defeated 8-2 by Johnson and Wales’s Ashley Hartford and Ari Sullivan. Nichols College won the tournament overall, claiming both Flight A and Flight C’s championship matches and collected sixteen points as a team Jaime Fastino comes out of the tournament still UMass Dartmouth’s top doubles player, holding five victories and only three losses so far this season. Her matches paired with Mollie McCaffrey have produced a record of 3-3, while Fastino remains undefeated 2-0 matched with sophomore Jenna Lahaie. Salve Regina was the school to host the Grass Court Doubles Tournament, as they have since 1984. This year saw Salve Regina and the Corsairs joined by Colby-Sawyer, Holy Cross, Johnson and Wales, and Bridgewater State. The Corsairs continue their season against the undefeated Rhode Island College Anchormen, and today against Johnson and Wales. Both matches are home at 3:30 p.m. Saturday October 1 the Corsairs travel to Plymouth State for their match against the Panthers. For more information, find the latest stats, recaps, schedules and more click here.

Photo Courtesy: corsairathletics.com