Columbia, Md. – The UMBC women's tennis team fell in the America East semifinals, 4-2, to top-seeded Stony Brook.
The fourth-seeded Retrievers (8-13) fell behind early as the Seawolves clinched the doubles point. Sophomore Shannon Cleary (Little Bay, NSW, Australia) and senior Josefin Stange-Jonsson (Vasteras, Sweden) won their match at the No. 1 position, defeating Stony Brook, 8-6.
Cleary got the Retrievers off to a solid start at the No. 6 position in singles, handling her opponent 6-1, 6-1. Dolashvili also had a strong match, defeating the opposition 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 6 slot, giving the fourth-seeded Retrievers a 2-1 lead.
Aldunate was the first to fall for the Retrievers, dropping her match 6-1, 7-5 at the 4 spot. Berghaus battled hard in a tough No. 1 position match, but fell in the end 6-2, 6-4.
Down 3-2, the Retrievers forced a deciding final set in both of their remaining matches. Stange-Jonsson fought well in her final match for UMBC in a highly-contested affair at the No. 5 slot, however she would fall 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, to clinch the match for the Seawolves. Kurasz did not finish her 2 position match, and was down 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 when play was stopped.
Doubles
No. 1 Stange-Jonsson/Cleary, UMBC def. Osabuohien/Bedoche, SBU, 8-6
No. 2 Morchan/Dix, SBU def. Berghaus/Kurasz, UMBC, 8-2
No. 3 Smergut/Shtilkind, SBUdef. Dolashvili/I. Alduante, UMBC, 8-5
Order of finish: 2,1,3
Singles
No. 1 Movchan def. Berghaus, 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 Kurasz vs. Altansarnai, 3-6, 7-6, 0-1, unfinished
No. 3 Dolashvili def. Osabuohien, 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Smergut def. I. Aldunate, 6-1, 7-5
No. 5 Dix def. Stange-Jonsson, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
No. 6 Cleary def. Shtilkind, 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish: 6,3,4,1,5
