Firebirds Women's Tennis Soars Past Regionally Ranked Opponent, Chestnut Hill, 8-1

PHILADELPHIA - The University of the District of Columbia women's tennis team soared past fellow regionally-ranked opponent Chestnut Hill College, 8-1 at the CHC Tennis Courts on Friday afternoon.

The Firebirds, fresh off their No. 2 ranking in the NCAA East Region poll on Wednesday, took all three doubles matches and five of the six singles matches en-route to a decisive victory over the No. 5 ranked Griffins. CHC, which suffered its first loss of the season at home, fell to 18-5 overall.

Sofia Leon and Tadai Abilla started things off for UDC with an 8-5 victory at No. 3 doubles for the first point of the match. Kristyna Nepivodova and Maxime Duijst followed with an 8-3 win in second doubles, setting the stage for a thrilling No. 1 doubles showdown. Jessica Nunez and Maria Vitkina, the No. 8 ranked doubles team in the region, ultimately gutted out a 9-8 (10-8) tie-breaker victory over CHC's No. 5 ranked team in the region, Nastia Scherbakova and Kelly Dennis to complete the doubles sweep for the Firebirds.

Nunez, the No. 7 ranked singles player in the region, bested No. 8 Scherbakova, 6-3, 6-2 for the first singles point of the match. Nepivodova followed with a 7-5, 6-3 win over No. 20 ranked Dennis at No. 2 singles, which sealed the match victory.

The Griffins' Maria Parapouras earned CHC's lone point of the afternoon, edging Vitkina, 6-1, 3-6, 10-5 at third singles. District of Columbia would wrap up the match with victories at No. 4, 5 and 6 singles, including a comeback, tie-breaker match win by Sofia Leon over Danielle Knott, 5-7, 6-2, 10-8.

The Firebirds stay in Philadelphia to take on their second straight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference foe, USciences on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.