Boxscore

WILMINGTON, Del. – The bottom of the singles lineup came through in the clutch for the Goldey-Beacom College women's tennis team as the Lightning were put to the test in a 5-4 victory over Chestnut Hill in their season home opener at McKean High School.

Sophomore Melanie Bonomo and freshmen Laura Cure and Gabriela Chaves all provided victories at the No. 4, 5 and 6 singles spots, respectively, to propel the Lightning (2-0, 1-0 CACC) to the win over their Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference foe.

Bonomo defeated Danielle Knoff, 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4, Cure won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 5 over Kristen Wasson, and Chaves earned a 6-0, 6-1 victory at No. 6 over Amber Lawrence.

Chestnut Hill, who was picked to finish fifth in the conference in the preseason coaches' poll, recently added a transfer from Virginia Wesleyan in sophomore Nastia Scherbakova. With Scherbakova in the lineup, the Griffins were able to win at the first three singles.

Sophomore Blanca Sancho suffered a very narrow loss, 4-6, 6-2, 10-8 (tie-break) after the match had already been decided. Freshman Marie-Louise Klein fell at No. 2 to Kelly Dennis (6-1, 6-1) and junior Marina Sales lost in two competitive sets (4-6, 4-6).

Prior to singles play, the Lightning had won two of three doubles matches. Sancho and Chaves earned an 8-6 win over Maria Parapouras and Knoff at No. 2 doubles, and sophomore Vanessa Leon and Cure teamed up for a decisive 8-1 win at No. 3 over Wasson and Regina Doherty.

GBC is back in action on Sun. afternoon in a non-conference match at West Chester University. Last year, the Lightning defeated the Golden Rams 7-2.