CARLISLE, Pa. – The Ursinus women's tennis team capped their regular season with a 6-3 triumph over Dickinson on Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference play.
With the win, the Bears finished the 2021-22 season with a 10-8 overall record and 4-5 mark in Centennial Conference action. The 10 overall wins were the most for the team since the 2016-17 season and Ursinus is expected to finish in the top-10 in the NCAA Region III Rankings. Meanwhile, the Red Devils finish their season at 8-10 overall and 2-7 in conference play.
Dickinson opened the contest by winning the first two doubles matches to grab the early lead, but Ursinus gained a pivotal win at third doubles to swing momentum back into the Bears favor. First-year Allie Armour and senior Maddie Russell fell 8-3 to Martine Fierro and Ariana Goitz at number one doubles before the number two sophomore doubles team of Avery Samer and Caitlin Vinsonhaler dropped an 8-5 setback to Lexi Epstein and Dana Kleinman. Sophomore Claire Burke and first-year Shannon Stewart earned the win at the number three doubles spot for the Bears with a thrilling 8-7 decision over Izzy Desjardins and Molly Michel. Burke and Stewart won the final three points of the match after trailing 7-5 in addition to fighting off seven Red Devil match point situations.
Armour dropped a 1-6, 1-6 match at first singles to Fierro that put Dickinson ahead 3-1 in the team match. However, the Bears reeled off the next five singles matches to earn the win in their regular season finale. Vinsonhaler took down Annabelle Armendarez at number four singles and Russell defeated Epstein 6-3, 6-3 in the last match of her collegiate career. Russell trailed 3-0 in the first set before winning 12 of the next 15 points over the next two sets. Burke bested Goitz 7-6, 6-3 at number three singles and Samer clinched the match for the Bears by defeating Kleinman 6-1, 6-1 at the number five position. Junior Ava Compagnoni then defeated Desjardins 6-2, 7-6 at number six singles for the Bears sixth and final point of the match.