HAMDEN, Conn. (April 15, 2013) – The Saint Francis University women's tennis team split a pair of Northeast Conference decisions over the weekend, dropping Wagner 4-0 before falling to Quinnipiac 0-4.  Even with the setback to the Bobcats, the Red Flash pushed it program mark for wins in a season to 12.

The Flash came close to securing the doubles point against a tough Quinnipiac squad that locked up the postseason no. 2 seed. SFU's no. 1 duo of Alex Sachs (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) and Rafaela Panizza (Jundiai, Brazil/) were up 6-5 and down 40-15 on serve against the Bobcats' Rachel Cantor and Sarah Viebrock.  Sachs and Panizza fought back two break points but failed to convert. At 6-6, the Bobcats team broke Panizza then easily held to claim the match and first point.

Almost the exact scenario played out in the no. 3 position as Saint Francis' Camila Diaz (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio La Piedad) and Danielle Gryckiewicz (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Academy) had a 6-5 lead against Bobcats Mary Chupa and Ariana Laurie. After Diaz lost her serve, Quinnipiac held to lead 7-5. Up 40-30, Gryckiewicz failed to close the game, which would have taken the match to a tiebreaker. SFU was downed 8-6.

“I was very impressed today with our doubles play,” said Flash coach Paul Tobin. “Despite the loss, the matches could have gone either way. We got sloppy at the end and made too many errors.”

Down a point and only needing three more to win, Quinnipiac took wins in all positions without much of a fight from the Red Flash.

“Disappointing singles results,” said Tobin. “The Quinnipiac women are good, but our scores should have been more competitive. We have issues in certain positions and not quite where we need to be to beat these teams.”

Against Wagner, Saint Francis gave away only six games to easily take the four points in both singles and doubles.

“Wagner was much better than last year, but we had no problem in all positions,” said Tobin. “The women are having a great year and hopefully we can step it up next week for our conference championships.”