The women’s tennis team improved their running streak to 139 consecutive wins within the conference on Wednesday as it quickly established its dominance and routed the William Paterson Pioneers 9-0.
“Everyone was playing well and gave it their all, and everyone was able to pretty much dominate in singles and doubles,” junior Allie Tierney said.
Tierney paired with junior Karisse Bendijo to begin the match with an 8-1 win in first doubles. The win tied them for second place on the College’s all-time list for wins by a doubles team, at 45.
The College also saw strong performances from senior Emily Petersack and freshman Deborah Wu, who also won 8-1 in second doubles. Junior Paige Aiello and freshman Alex Bologno won too, completing the sweep in doubles competition.
The Lion Show didn’t stop there, as Bendijo, Tierney, Aiello, Petersack, Bolgno and freshman Sarah Lipincott all won their respective singles matches, putting the Pioneers down in straight sets.
Tierney expressed high hopes for the season and doesn’t expect the team’s roll to slow down.
“We hope to win the conference again, which will automatically guarantee us a spot at team nationals in the spring,” Tierney said. “We also hope to perform well at regionals next weekend and hopefully have players make it to nationals in Alabama in October.”
Saturday, the women’s tennis team hosted the 2011 Lion’s Fall Kickoff. The duo of Bendijo and Tierney continued their run by winning all three of their matches against teams from NYU and Muhlenberg. With these three wins, their wins total reached 48.
Also picking up wins on the day were singles players Lippincott and freshman Marina Tsay and doubles teams of Aiello/Wu and Petersack/Bologno.
On Sunday, Bendijo and Tierney became the all-time wins leaders for a doubles pair in the College’s history, reaching 49 career wins together. Bendijo also recorded her 100th win in the contest.
The women’s team will resume action on Wednesday at Ramapo University, hoping to lengthen their already astounding NJAC win streak.
