Results
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In a dominant display on its home court, the Eckerd College women's tennis program put together a strong showing against Merrimack (Mass.) College on Sunday with an 8-1 victory at the Turley Athletic Complex.
The Tritons (2-7 overall) opened the morning by sweeping doubles action in convincing form and went on to claim five of the six decisions in singles competition against the Warriors (2-4 overall).
It was nearly a shutout victory for EC following a very close third-set tiebreaker going in favor of the visitors. But in the end, the Tritons added another tally in the win column this spring after toppling Warner University back on March 2.
Sophomore
Erika Fridrik collected her second consecutive win in singles play after she also defeated her opponent head-to-head against No. 24 New York of Institute of Technology earlier in the week.
At the No. 4 matchup today, Fridrik bested Mollie Fitzgerald in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.
In the No. 3 position, fellow sophomore
Taylor Bullock improved to 4-5 on the spring as she took care of business against Merrimack's Rachel Muller in the same fashion as Fridrik's final, 6-4, 6-4.
Bullock currently paces the Tritons in singles wins this season after totaling a team-best six as a freshman.
Another sophomore,
Amy Naula, collected her first win of the season in her first attempt in singles action, downing Alyx Barnes, 6-1, 6-0. Fellow second-year teammate
Gipson Hawn anchored the Tritons at the No. 1 spot in the rotation and charged past Shakee Messina with a 6-0, 6-1 final.
Senior
Amanda Teets also cruised to her second win of the spring as she finished off a strong 6-1, 6-1 performance over Katie Veasey.
A similar theme unfolded in doubles competition as each previously-mentioned Triton with the addition of senior
Manon Ironside helped complete the sweep with 8-2, 8-6 and 8-2, triumphs.
Ironside claimed the first set in her No. 2 singles battle, but Merrimack's Kara Hole eventually rallied to thwart the EC shutout bid.
In conjunction with the Triton men, the EC women will also host the University of West Alabama on Thursday afternoon at the Turley Athletic Complex with a 2 p.m. start time.
