Women’s Tennis Tops Southern New Hampshire in NCAA Tournament

Women's Tennis | 5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM

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In a battle that was much closer than the final score, Goldey-Beacom received a test from Southern New Hampshire in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and advanced with a 5-1 victory in Flushing, NY.

It was the program's second NCAA Tournament triumph, following a first-round win over Chestnut Hill in 2015. The Lightning (14-3) move on to the second round to face 44th-ranked Queens (NY) on Tuesday at noon. That winner advances to the "Sweet 16" in Altamonte Springs, FL.

The women's tennis squad is the owner of the only two head-to-head NCAA Tournament victories in school history in any sport.

The third-doubles team of freshmen Alma Garcia Valle (Valladolid, Spain) and Silvia Hortelano Pey (Castelldefels, Spain) opened things by improving to 12-2 with an 8-1 triumph over Lindsay Baum and Rachel Wagner. The first-doubles unit of seniors Nina Sengl (Puchheim, Germany) and Francesca Beg (Westbury, England) moved to 13-4 with an 8-3 victory over Sofia Morais and Kaitlyn Poje.

The No. 2 doubles match of GBC junior Raquel Morais (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and freshman Anna Hortelano Pey (Castelldefels, Spain) vs. Abla Chadli and Anna Salla was an intense battle with momentum clearly hanging in the balance. Playing just their 10th match together, the Lightning's duo took the rubber with a huge 8-6 win for a 3-0 margin in the tie.

Sengl provided the only easy part of the singles competition for Goldey-Beacom, moving to 17-0 on the year with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Poje. Her 48th career singles win is tied with Filipa Correia (2011-15) for second in team history.

The remaining singles matches had everyone in suspense of the tie's outcome. The Penmen (15-8) moved to a 4-1 deficit at sixth singles with Baum getting a 6-1, 6-1 victory over sophomore Manuela Cornejo (Waldbronn, Germany).

The remaining matches either went deep into the second set or began a third with both squads not knowing what to expect. Silvia Hortelano Pey ended the drama at fifth singles with a 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 triumph over Wagner to move to 13-3 at singles.

Goldey-Beacom entered as the region's number three seed and Southern New Hampshire was sixth. Queens (NY) is second.

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Players Mentioned

Francesca Beg: 5' 10"; Senior

Manuela Cornejo: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Raquel Morais: 5' 4"; Junior

Nina Sengl: 5' 7"; Senior

Alma Garcia Valle: 5' 1"; Freshman

Anna Hortelano Pey: 5' 7"; Freshman

Silvia Hortelano Pey: 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Francesca Beg
: 5' 10"; Senior

Manuela Cornejo
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Raquel Morais
: 5' 4"; Junior

Nina Sengl
: 5' 7"; Senior

Alma Garcia Valle
: 5' 1"; Freshman

Anna Hortelano Pey
: 5' 7"; Freshman

Silvia Hortelano Pey
: 5' 7"; Freshman