ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. (Jan. 27, 2013) – The Saint Francis U women's tennis team comprised of three freshman and three sophomores continued its winning streak this weekend against an experienced Saint Bonaventure 5-2 at the SBU Tennis Center. The Bonnies had a record-breaking year on 2012 going 11-9 with wins over Bucknell, Duquesne and Binghamton – all top tennis programs. This is the first time the Red Flash beat Saint Bonaventure in the history of the program.

Still fired up after their upset win over Niagara, the Red Flash women came out strong in doubles easily taking the point in all positions.

Freshman Danielle Gryckiewicz (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Academy) and Camila Diaz (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio La Piedad) pulled out a decisive victory against Bonnies senior Riley Archer and Jillian Hammill 8-0. Lucy Jasso (San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Instituto Potosino) and freshman Rafaela Panizza (Jundiai, Brazil/), playing in the no. 1 spot dominated the net and refused to get broken in their 8-4 win over Bonnies Fatya Amiri and Marissa Brossard. Their win clinched the point.

SFU's Alex Sachs (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) and Shivani Patel (Leicestershire, England/Repton School) were up 6-2 when Bonnies senior Katheryn Kvas and Taylor Cole started a run of aggressive doubles action; taking two serving opportunities from SFU they quickly went up 6-4. SFU, unable to break, found itself tied at 7-7 going into the tiebreaker but managed to pull it off easily 7-1 to take the win.

“It's great to take the doubles point,” exclaimed Flash coach Paul Tobin. “The level of confidence going into singles is exactly what we need. Coach Vanja and I have focused on doubles since we took the court in September for preseason training. Very proud of them.”

Saint Francis, feeling the pressure off, was able to secure the additional three points at the no. 3 to no. 6 positions pretty easily. Freshman Rafaela Panizza (Jundiai, Brazil/) struggled in her match against a tough Fatya Amiri who advanced to the main draw at the ITA Regional Championships last fall. Patel also fell to the Bonnies Marissa Brossard, who made it to the ITA regionals after an upset win over Buffalo's #2 player.

“In the history of our program we have never took wins off Saint Bonaventure,” said Tobin. “To finish off the weekend with back-to-back wins off these level schools is very encouraging for the future of our program.”