April 21, 2006
FLUSHING, N.Y. - The No. 5 seed Fairfield University women's tennis team defeated the No. 4 seed Loyola, 6-1, on Friday afternoon in the first-round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships at the USTA Tennis Center.
With the win the Stags (10-13, 3-4 MAAC) advance to the semifinals on Saturday against Marist College. With rain in the forecast, the match will be played indoors at the Yanitelli Center on the campus of Saint Peter's College. The match is tentatively slated to begin at 1 p.m.
Fairfield avenges a 4-3 loss to the Greyhounds on April 8, at the Yale Indoor Tennis Courts.
Lauren Bonanno returned to the lineup, and picked up a 7-5, 6-4 win at No. 1 singles. It was the ninth win of the season, for the freshman who has missed time of late, with a nagging injury.
Senior Megan Stauffer won her sixth MAAC Tournament match in a row with a 6-1, 6-2 over Jessica Liberatore at No.2 singles. Entering Saturday, Stauffer is 6-0 in MAAC Tournament singles matches, including the clinching victory in the 2004 MAAC Championship match.
Meaghan McKenna gave Loyola its only singles win with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 win over Alexis Accomando at No. 3 singles. Freshman Gabriela Davila defeated Stefanie Clay in straight sets 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
Senior Tiffany Marsocci won a thrilling 3-6, 6-4, 10-3 match over Traca Mallory at No. 5 singles, and Christina Chacharone defeated Laura Cuti 6-1, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
Nitch and Liberatore defeated Accomando and Stauffer at No. 1 doubles 8-3, but Bonanno and Chacharone defeated Clay and Mallory 8-2. The Stags took the doubles point when Marsocci and Davila defeated McKenna and Cuti 8-6.
The Red Foxes narrowly edged the Stags 4-3, back on April 11.
