Women's tennis defeats Salem State

The Plymouth State women's tennis team defeated Salem State 7-2 at the P.E. Center Courts on Sat. Sept. 20 at 2:00 p.m. in a Little East Conference Match-up. PSU moved to 2-4 overall with a 2-2 LEC record with the victory. Salem State dropped to 1-3 overall with a 1-2 LEC record.

PSU was led by first year student Laura Donovan who won both her matches in convincing style. Donovan teamed up with Meghan Rodier to win the No. 1 doubles set which set the tone for the rest of the afternoon. Donovan then went on to win the No. 2 singles match in straight sets as she moved to 4-4 on the season. PSU coach Barbara Willett was pleased with the way Donovan handled herself in her singles match, "Laura had a good singles match at number-two where she won the first set easily," said Willett, "Her opponent changed her strategy and Laura stayed with her to the end by running in to pick up the short ball."

Rodier had a tough match at the singles No. 1 set where she faced off against Megan Cote who is the defending LEC No. 1 singles champion and has a career record of 30-1while having a 3-0 record on the season. Cote won in straight sets. Despite the setback, PSU was solid the rest of the afternoon as Buffy Garland, Amanda Arponen, Lydia Smith, Sandy Capecelatro, Nikki Colb and Abby Warren all chipped in with singles victories.

PSU coach Barbara Rawlsky-Willett was impressed with how some of her players, in particular Amanda Arponen, fought back despite falling behind early. Willett credited Arponen's consistent play as the reason she came back to win her No. 4 singles match, "I was most impressed with each player fighting for every point, no matter what the score happened to be," said Willett, "We are working to improve our footwork and our second serves."

PSU will hit the road for two games against UMass Boston on Sept. 27 at 1:00 p.m. and Colby Sawyer Sept. 30 at 3:30 p.m. after playing home to Castleton Sept. 23. UMass Boston is 1-2 on the season while Colby Sawyer has a record of 6-0. UMass Boston has struggled a bit this season but will look to get back on track at home when they play PSU. Colby Sawyer will no doubt be a tough game for PSU seeing how they have a 44-10 record in singles matches this year. Colby Sawyer will be led by Lauren Turenne and Brittany Mailman who both have a 6-1 singles record on the season and both of whom have a 5 game singles match win streak.