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Senior Alicia Gallard won both her singles and doubles match.
Senior Alicia Gallard won both her singles and doubles match.
Posted: Sep 05, 2014

Firebirds Soar Past Spartans in Season Opener

Box Score
Team Stats
Doubles
Duijst, Maxime / Rojas, Laura (UDC)
def. Signore, Bianca / Kanefu, Nyenyeri (STAC)
8-1
Looareesuwan, Mona / Dimante, Laura (UDC)
def. DeLeon, Raven / Biehle, Shannon (STAC)
8-1
D'Andrea, Samantha / Vega, Nasia (STAC)
def. No player / No player (UDC)
FINAL - DEFAULT
Singles
Duijst, Maxime (UDC)
def. Kanefu, Nyenyeri (STAC)
6-2, 6-0
Looareesuwan, Mona (UDC)
def. Signore, Bianca (STAC)
6-1, 6-1
Dimante, Laura (UDC)
def. DeLeon, Raven (STAC)
6-0, 6-1
Rojas, Laura (UDC)
def. Biehle, Shannon (STAC)
6-0, 6-1
Gallard, Alicia (UDC)
def. D'Andrea, Samantha (STAC)
6-0, 6-1
Vega, Nasia (STAC)
def. No player (UDC)
FINAL - DEFAULT

SPARKILL, NY – The University of the District of Columbia women's tennis team defeated East Coast Conference foe St. Thomas Aquinas, 7-2 in both teams' season opener Friday afternoon at Spartans Tennis Courts.

The Firebirds (1-0) won handily in the top two doubles matches and the top five singles matches, forfeiting the 3rd doubles and 6th singles matches due to an insufficient lineup.

After conceding the point for the No. 3 doubles match, junior Peerada Looareesuwan (Computer Science – Bangkok, Thailand/Valdosta State University) teamed up with freshman, Laura Dimante (Business Management – Riga, Latvia/Rigas Teikas) at No. 2 doubles for a decisive, 8-1 victory. Then, senior team captain Maxime Duijst (Biology – Valkenswaard, Netherlands/Pleincollege Sint-Joris) teamed up with another Firebird newcomer, junior Laura Rojas (Civil Engineering – Bogota, Colulmbia/Jackson State University) for an 8-1 victory as well at No. 1 doubles. UDC led 2-1 at the end of doubles play.

STAC's Nasia Vega was awarded a win by default at No. 6 singles due to UDC's insufficient lineup to even the score, 2-2; however, the Firebirds went on to win all five singles matches they played in to complete the 7-2 victory.

Gallard was the first to turn in a UDC singles victory, ousting Samantha D'Andrea, 6-0, 6-1. Next was Rojas – a Division I transfer from Jackson State University – who earned a dominant, 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles in her Firebird debut.

Looareesuwan, who played the majority of UDC's matches at No. 4 singles last year, had little difficulty with Bianca Signore at No. 2 singles, earning a 6-1, 6-1 victory to clinch the team victory for UDC. Next, Dimante won her first collegiate singles match at No. 3, besting Raven DeLeon, 6-0, 6-1.

Duijst, a three-time Second Team All-ECC performer in her career at UDC, made a smooth transition from last year's No. 3 singles spot to No. 1 this year, as she defeated Nyenyeri Kanefu, 6-2, 6-0 to end the match.

UDC's originally scheduled match at Dowling on Saturday was postponed until October 12th and will now be played at home. The Firebirds next match is September 9th at Shepherd.