Wexford, Pa - Niagara women's tennis team picked up a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Duquesne on Friday afternoon, with the Purple Eagles earning the doubles point before holding on in a split singles session.

Niagara came out strong in doubles, winning two of three matches to claim the early team point. Larisa Kotok and Gabriela Melo set the tone at No. 1 doubles with a 6-4 win over Mila Badics and Naomi Lalonde, while Saloni Tamang and Valeria Mora followed with a 7-5 victory at No. 2. Duquesne's Jasa Roka and Denisse Arinez Guilarte salvaged the third spot, defeating Isabel Garcia and Julia Clarke-Louie 6-2.

Singles play was tightly contested, with each team winning three matches. Niagara got strong performances from Garcia, Kotok, and Tamang. Garcia led the way at No. 1, rallying past Badics in a three-set battle, 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-1. Kotok was steady at No. 3, defeating Alexandra O'Brien 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The match of the day may have been at No. 4, where Tamang saved the best for last — dropping the first set before battling back to beat Guilarte in a super tiebreaker, 3-6, 7-6(7), winning the breaker 10-8.

Duquesne kept things interesting, Lalonde won at No. 2 over Melo (7-6, 3-6, 6-2), Roka prevailed at No. 5 over Mora (6-2, 4-6, 6-4), and Yakunina took No. 6 over Clarke-Louie (3-6, 6-2, 3-0).

With the doubles point in hand and three singles wins, Niagara secured the 4-3 final. 

Up Next

Niagara opens up conference play hosting Merrimack Sunday March 1.