By Staff Writer Seth Tamarkin.
As the weather turns colder, leaves turn different colors, and midterms start stressing students out, the UMass Dartmouth Women’s Tennis team wraps up their season.
And for the sixth time in seven years, as well as 12th time in the team’s history, the Tennis team reached the 10-win plateau after their Little East Conference win.
Before the conference game though, The Clark University Cougars traveled to UMass Dartmouth on Wednesday for the final regular game of the season. Unfortunately for the Cougars, the Corsairs were on a four-game winning streak that extended into five as they handily scored a victory over Clark.
First, the UMass team won various singles bouts. Senior Jenna Lahaie and junior Monika Reining won impressive straight set matches at the number one and five single positions.
After that, junior Jaime Fastino, sophomore Michelle Aftandilian, and freshman Jackie Bokis each scored three-set victories at the second, third, and sixth singles spots.
Jenna Lahaie and Fastino then teamed up to score a 9-7 win at the number one spot, marking Lahaie’s 40th career doubles victory. Meanwhile, Reining and junior Natasha Shiku scored themselves an 8-1 win at the number two doubles spot.
The Cougars didn’t go down without a fight though, as two of their teammates accrued victories against UMass Dartmouth.
Senior Maggie Tarboux won a singles match then teamed up with junior Chloe Dunnell to win 8-2 at number three doubles. Ultimately though, the Corsairs emerged victorious with a 7-2 win.
After their final game of the regular season, the Corsairs traveled to Rutland, Vermont’s Grand Slam Tennis Club to face-off against Castleton University in the Little East Conference. Coming off a five-win streak, and two-win streak for LEC games, UMass Dartmouth’s Tennis team had the energy in its favor as they garnered a sixth-straight win. Even more impressive, the team did so with their second sweep in a row during an LEC game, crushing Castleton with a 9-0 victory.
Sisters Michelle and Rachel Aftandilian both scored straight set singles wins as well as sophomore Emma Sokolovsky. Lahaie, Fastino, and Reining won singles matches too and took home doubles wins.
Initially, the dynamic duo of Lahaie and Fastino notched another win, 8-5, at number one doubles. Then, Reining and Natasaha Shiku once again teamed up for an 8-1 win at the number two position. Finishing off the Corsair’s domination was the sophomore duo of Jordan Martin and Molly O’Donnell who solidified the sweep with an 8-6 win at the number three doubles spot.
After their win on Saturday, the Corsairs have now finished their regular season with a 10-4 win/loss ratio and a 6-3 ratio for the Little East Conference. The Castleton Spartans were not as lucky and finished their regular season with a 3-10 record overall and 0-8 at the Little East Conference.
Now that the Corsairs have notched the win at Castleton though, they are moving on in the Conference.
They have been guaranteed a position in next week’s Little East Conference championship field, and if they win it will be the Corsairs’ first championship since 2015.