The New Haven women’s tennis team, in the middle of a strong Fall 2022 season, hosted Le Moyne College in a matchup of Northeast-10 (NE-10) playoff hopefuls on Sunday afternoon. The Chargers, who entered the match in fourth place in conference play, sat one spot ahead of Le Moyne with just three matches remaining in the regular season.

A back-and-forth match ensued, with each side battling for the advantage. In doubles, the tandem of Valentinna Ferrarini and Karim Carreras continued their undefeated season, collecting their fourth win together in a 6-4 advantage. This was the only victory for the Chargers in doubles, as Le Moyne won the next two to capture the overall match point in doubles.

Ferrarini followed up her victory in doubles by winning her singles match. The freshman, who was named as the NE-10’s Rookie of the Week earlier this season, collected her seventh individual win of the year after dropping the first set 6-1. She rallied, winning the next two sets 6-3 and 6-2 to take the win in three sets.

Carreras, a sophomore, also added a straight-sets win of her own, collecting two 6-2 wins on her way to the 2-0 sweep. The win helped give the Chargers a 2-1 advantage over Le Moyne.

Graduate student Gaayatri Shankar also walked away with a win, splitting the first two sets with a 6-1 victory and a 7-5 loss. She came away with a 6-4 win in the final set, capturing the match and giving another win for the Chargers.

It was the final victory of the afternoon for New Haven, as they dropped the final three singles matches. Senior Kacie Banks’ match went the distance, with the final set going 7-6 in the Le Moyne player’s favor. Seniors Katherine MacPhail and Alexa Orlando both dropped their matches in straight sets, giving Le Moyne the 4-3 overall match victory.

With the loss, New Haven falls to 6-4 (4-3 NE-10) and drops to fifth in the conference rankings. On the other side, Le Moyne improves to 7-4 (5-3 NE-10) and sneaks past the Chargers for fourth in the NE-10.

New Haven returns to the court on Tuesday for another conference match, this time against Bentley University. It is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the North Campus tennis courts, and will be the penultimate match of the Chargers fall regular season. For more information on their upcoming schedule, results and potential playoff implications, visit NewHavenChargers.com.