Southern New Hampshire Wins Third Straight Women's Tennis Championship
For Immediate Release
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April 22, 2012
Easton, Mass. – Third-seeded Southern New Hampshire University claimed its third straight Northeast-10 Conference Women's Tennis Championship on Sunday afternoon, defeating top-seeded Stonehill College, 5-1, at the Sally Blair Ames Sports Complex in Easton.
Stonehill and So. New Hampshire both earned 5-0 semifinal victories on Friday to advance to Sunday's championship match, which marked the third time in three years that the two programs have met in the Northeast-10 title contest.
The Penmen jumped out to a 3-0 lead early by sweeping doubles, as Alena Mukdaprakorn and Diana Vamvakitis earned a 8-2 win at No. 1 doubles, followed by Jamie Hann and Samantha Jean with a 8-5 win at second doubles. Amanda Albuquerque and Kirsten Jean were 8-4 winners at No. 3 doubles.
Vamvakitis, the Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year, was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Katie Gillian at No. 2 singles to open up a 4-0 match lead, although Stonehill's Meryl Lawrence came right back to defeat Samantha Jean at fifth singles, 6-1, 6-0.
But Mukdaprakorn, the Northeast-10 Vern Cox Player of the Year, took down Amy Toegemann at No. 1 singles, 7-5, 6-2, to clinch the third Northeast-10 Championship in three years for So. New Hampshire.
The Penmen improved to 18-5 overall and will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship Tournament, while the defeat drops the Skyhawks to 15-5 on the season.
The field for the NCAA Tournament will be announced on Tuesday night.
With the victory, So. New Hampshire becomes the first team to win three straight Northeast-10 titles since Bryant University, now a Division I member, did it from 2004-08.
2012 Northeast-10 Women's Tennis All-Championship Team
Maria Toft, Adelphi
Emily Magee, Saint Michael's
Samantha Jean, So. New Hampshire
Alena Mukdaprakorn, So. New Hampshire
Diana Vamvakitis, So. New Hampshire
Paige Frost, Stonehill
Sarah Hickey, Stonehill
The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 5,500 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.
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