Women's Tennis Falls To Duquesne At A-10 Championships, 4-1

MASON, Ohio - The Saint Joseph's women's tennis team's season came to a close on Thursday as the 11th seeded Hawks dropped a hard-fought match to sixth seeded Duquesne, 4-1, in the opening round of the A-10 Championship.

Playing singles matches to start the afternoon, SJU's Maureen Devlin drew a tough matchup versus Duquesne's Julianne Herman as the Duke took the first point 6-0, 6-0 at the second flight. Junior Alex Zachem showed grit at the fifth flight, but again Duquesne was able to pull away for the win, 6-1, 6-1.

Playing in her last collegiate match, senior Arianne Polatnick went out a winner, earning a 6-1, 6-3 decision at the fifth flight.

Classmate Kristina Eisenbrand battled at the third flight as the senior pushed the second set to a tiebreaker, but Duquesne would prevail, 6-0, 7-6 (4) to push its lead to 3-1.

Playing at the top flight, junior Claire Minnoe traded volleys back and forth with the Dukes' Kylie Isaacs. But it wasn't SJU's day as the match was capped by a Duquesne win.

Duquesne played well and moving indoors was a boost for them as their team plays indoors much more often than we do.," sadi SJU head coach Ian Crookenden. "We had a good game plan and the matches were tough. I especially felt bad for Maureen, one of our toughest competitors, who did not click against a familiar opponent who was having a hot day and did not miss. Very strong competitive matches from Claire and Kristina who rounded out our top half of singles lineup. Arianne played great and scored our only point, but it came a little too late to stop their momentum."

Saint Joseph's caps the season with an 8-14 overall record, but came on strong towards the end of the year, winning four of its last six.

The Hawks' senior class graduates having been part of the team's single-season record for wins (16 in 2013-14), while Polatnick finishes her career tied for sixth all-time in career singles wins with 43. Eisenbrand tied for 10th all-time with 36, with Devlin posting a career-best eight singles wins this year.

Doubles
1. Kylie Isaacs / Julianne Herman (DUQ) vs. Claire Minnoe / Alex Zachem (SJU) DNP
2. Ally Miller / Zuzanna Stelmaszak (DUQ) vs. Sarah Contrata / Kristina Eisenbrand (SJU) DNP
3. Alexa Miller / Megan Wasson (DUQ) vs. Maureen Devlin / Anne Marie Devlin (SJU) DNP

Singles
1. Kylie Isaacs (DUQ) def. Claire Minnoe (SJU) 7-5, 6-4
2. Julianne Herman (DUQ) def. Maureen Devlin (SJU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Maddy Adams (DUQ) def. Kristina Eisenbrand (SJU) 6-0, 7-6 (4)
4. Alexa Miller (DUQ) def. Alex Zachem (SJU) 6-1, 6-1
5. Arianne Polatnick (SJU) def. Megan Wasson (DUQ) 6-1, 6-3
6. Anne Marie Devlin (SJU) vs. Ally Miller (DUQ) 3-6, 0-1 DNF