Firebirds Soar Past Spartans on Senior Day, 9-0; Clinch No. 3 Seed in ECC Championship Tournament
WASHINGTON, DC – The University of the District of Columbia women's tennis team swept all three doubles matches and all six singles matches in a 9-0 shutout victory over St. Thomas Aquinas on a gorgeous fall Friday afternoon in the nation's capital.
The Firebirds (5-4, 5-2 ECC) celebrated Senior Day with a win that clinched for them the No. 3 seed in next week's East Coast Conference Championship Tournament hosted by Queens College. The team's two graduating seniors, Peerada Looareesuwan and Laura Rojas were honored before the match.
Rojas, a two-year member of the squad after transferring from Jackson State, teamed with sophomore Laura Dimante at No. 3 doubles to earn a decisive, 8-2 victory over Nasia Vega and Carolyn Kopf, putting the Firebirds on the board first and setting the tone for the rest of the match. Next was Looareesuwan and freshman Zoe Mall teaming for an 8-1 win at No. 2 doubles, followed by an 8-2 No. 1 doubles win by Dominika Hadnadova and Alena Skobkina.
Dimante was the first to complete her singles victory at No. 5 as she cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 win over Kopf to extend the Firebirds lead to 4-0. Fittingly, the three-year senior Looareesuwan earned the match-clinching fifth point of the day with her 31st career singles win, 6-2, 6-1 over Shannon Biehle.
UDC went on to claim victories in the final four singles matches and completed its 3rd shutout victory of the season. As the Firebirds enter the post-season for the 5th consecutive year, they take with them a three-match win streak in ECC play.
