Last Sunday, Oct. 22, the New Haven Chargers defeated the Adelphi University Panthers in the Northeast 10 Championship Final. After a series of nine matches, three doubles and six singles, the Chargers won 4-1.
Head coach Chris Raffone and assistant coach Ariadna Cabezas Marti led the team to the program’s first conference title.
“This was truly a special season. The team chemistry and family atmosphere was second to none,” said Raffone. “The girls all worked extremely hard the entire season and never lost focus on the ultimate goal of winning the ring.”
Senior Karim Carreras and junior Valentinna Ferrarini competed in the first doubles against the Panthers’ Katrina Liedbeck and Zuzanna Witkowska and won 6-4. In the second doubles match, senior Risako Umekuni and freshman Victoria Togores beat Adelphi’s Roisin Boyd and Caterina Federici 6-2. Freshman duo Leni Bischof and Laura Ortner competed in the final doubles match against Genesis Beltran and Sara Lindeman and won the first set 5-3, but the match went unfinished.
In the first singles match, Ferrarini competed against Liedbeck, but the match went unfinished. Liedbeck won the first set 6-4 and the pair tied 4-4 in the second set. Adelphi secured their only point of the night in the second singles match. Witkowska defeated Carreras 6-4 in both sets. In the third singles match, Umekuni defeated Boyd 6-1 and 6-3, respectively, adding another point for the Chargers.
Togores secured another point for New Haven in the fourth singles match against Lindeman. Togores won 6-3 in the first set and 6-1 in the second set. In the fifth singles match, Ortner faced Federici and won 6-3, 6-1 respectively. Sophomore Agustina Ravera competed against Beltran in the final singles game but after three sets, the match went unfinished. Beltran won the first set 6-3, Ravera finished the second set 6-4, and they tied 1-1 in the third set.
After winning the NE10 Championship, the Chargers remain undefeated overall. New Haven completed their regular season 11-0 and 8-0 in conference play.
“This was an easy group to keep motivated and we really wanted to send our seniors Karim and Risako out on a winning note,” said Raffone. “We are just getting started. We are super hungry to do well in the NCAA and build a tennis dynasty at UNH.”
For more information, visit NewHavenChargers.com.
