WEST WINDSOR, Pa. (April 26, 2013) - The Saint Francis University women's tennis team finished its season with a strong showing at the NEC Championships. The Red Flash, coming off an historic 12-7 season, lost in the quarterfinals to No. 3 seeded LIU Brooklyn.

This is the first time SFU played the Blackbirds in both the regular season and conference tournament.

LIU secured the doubles point with wins in the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Alex Sachs (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) and Rafaela Panizza (Jundiai, Brazil/) were up 3-2 on serve against LIU's Sanne Louwers and Taysha Blessington, but were unable to hold, tying things up at 3-3. SFU held on to another service opportunity, but LIU came on strong closing the first set, 8-4.

SFU's Shivani Patel (Leicestershire, England/Repton School) and Lucy Jasso (San Luis Potosi, Mexico/Instituto Potosino) fell 8-2 at No. 2 doubles against Blackbirds Aleksandra Pavlovic and Aleksandra Ywgoreychenko. Camila Diaz (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio La Piedad) and Danielle Gryckiewicz (Calgary, Alberta/Calgary Academy) almost pulled off an upset against LIU's Lisa Maas and Nancy Zonnwved. Up 7-3 and on serve, the match was stopped once the doubles point was won.

"Doubles was much tighter than expected," SFU head coach Paul Tobin said. "We were on our way picking up a win at No. 3 and we were fighting at No. 1, up 3-2 and on serve."

The Blackbirds secured the three points needed to win at the Nos. 1, 2, and 5 positions. Tight matches came from Alex Sachs (Parkland, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) and Camila Diaz (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio La Piedad). Sachs, who is coming off 17 singles wins this season took the first set, 6-3, and was up 3-2 in the second set against Lisa Maas. The match was stopped once LIU clinched the 4th point. Camila Diaz (Carolina, Puerto Rico/Colegio La Piedad) at won the first set at No. 5 singles, 6-4, against Blackbirds Nancy Zonneveld, but gave it back with a 6-0 loss in the second set. Up 1-0 and on serve on the third set, the match was stopped.

"We certainly gained the respect of our conference players and coaches," Tobin continued. "We had a great year and losing in the quarterfinals was not bad. This program is moving forward fast."