BRISTOL, R.I. — The Roger Williams University women's tennis team closed the regular season with a 4-3 loss to Colby-Sawyer College in Conference of New England action Saturday afternoon at the RWU Tennis Courts.
The Hawks fell to 13-2 overall and 8-2 in the CNE, while the Chargers improved to 8-2 overall and in conference play.
Valentina Abarca (Riobamba, Ecuador) and Iris Gkrekou (Athens, Greece) opened doubles competition with a 6-3 victory over Maria Espinosa Lopez and Justine Porowski in the top flight.
Colby-Sawyer responded at No. 2, where Sky Jara and Avery Nielsen edged Megan Bache (Westbrook, Conn.) and Adriana Palmieri (Southington, Conn.) 7-6 (7-4). Callie Valeri and Reese Montstream then secured the opening team point with a 6-3 victory over Ella Mancini (Middlebury, Conn.) and Claire Dwyer (Manchester, Maine) at No. 3.
Gkrekou tied the match by defeating Porowski 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. Palmieri followed with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Montstream at No. 5 before Scarlett Bernard (Westwood, Mass.) extended the Hawks' lead to 3-1 with a 6-2, 7-5 win against Valeri in the sixth flight.
The Chargers responded with three consecutive victories.
Jara rallied past Abarca 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1, and Espinosa Lopez tied the match with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 victory over Mancini at No. 4.
With the team score tied at 3, Nielsen secured the deciding point for Colby-Sawyer by outlasting Bache 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 at No. 3.
Roger Williams earned the No. 2 seed in the CNE Championship. As one of the tournament's top two seeds, the Hawks received a first-round bye and will host the winner of No. 3 Gordon College and No. 6 Western New England University in the semifinals Thursday, Oct. 29, at the RWU Tennis Courts.
