Women's Tennis Falls To Three BIG EAST foes

April 19, 2010

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -

The Providence College women's tennis team went 0-3 this weekend. On Friday, April 16, the Friars were defeated by Pittsburgh, 7-0. The contest marked the final home meeting of the season. On Saturday, April 17, the team was put down by Seton Hall, 6-1, at the Pirates' home courts. The Friars stayed in South Orange, N.J. on Sunday, April 18 and fell to Villanova, 5-2.

With the losses, the Friars end the year with a 2-15 spring season record, a 0-7 record in BIG EAST play and a 5-16 record overall.

The Pittsburgh Panthers used five straight-set singles victories to overcome the Friars on Friday, April 16. Sophomore Melissa Ferry (Cumberland, R.I.) was the only Friar to push her match to a third set. Ferry eventually lost the super-tiebreak, 10-7. The team-match against Pittsburgh marked the last home match for PC's senior captain Jen Cusack (Bayport, N.Y.). In her four years as a Friar, Cusack has logged over 25 wins in singles action.

The Friars attempted to rebound against the Seton Hall Pirates on Saturday, April 17. The team started out competitive, winning the doubles point, two matches to one to take a 1-0 team lead. Sophomore Melissa Ferry and senior Jen Cusack paired up for just the second time this year to defeat Seton Hall seniors Alexandra Harvey and Liza Chu, 8-4, in the No. 3 doubles slot. The match marked the final regular season home match for the Hall's seniors. The Pirates would bounce back to take the final six points up for grabs in singles action.

In their regular season finale the Friars fell to the Villanova Wildcats. Again, the Friars jumped out to a 1-0 team lead, earning the doubles point thanks to freshman Marisela Aviles-Duron (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) and junior Ayushi Sinha (Mumbai, India) in the No. 1 spot and Cusack and Ferry in the No. 3 position. Aviles-Duron scored the lone singles point for the Friars, defeating the Wildcat's Carla Erskine in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0. With the win, Aviles-Duron finishes her freshman regular season campaign with a cumulative record of 17-16. Aviles-Duron is the first player to finish the season with a No. 1 singles record above .500 since the 2001-02 season.

The Friars will now head into the offseason having lost only one of its top-six players to graduation.

Pittsburgh Results

Doubles

1. Elizabeth Adams/Shannon Benic (Pitt) def. Marisela Aviles-Duron / Ayushi Sinha (PC) 8-1

2. Gabi Catanzariti/Sabrina Visram (Pitt) def. Jen Cusack/ Melissa Ferry (PC) 9-7

3. Sarah Dieffenbach/Minh Evans (Pitt) def. Courtney Fuller / Marissa Dalferro (PC) 8-3

Singles

1. Elizabeth Adams (Pitt) def. Marisela Aviles-Duron (PC) 6-0, 6-2

2. Adela Aprodu (Pitt) def. Ayushi Sinha (PC) 6-1, 6-2

3. Shannon Benic (Pitt) def. Courtney Burek (PC) 6-1, 6-0

4. Gabi Catanzariti (Pitt) def. Melanie Albert (PC) 6-0, 6-1

5. Sabrina Visram (Pitt) def. Jenny Cusack (PC) 6-3, 6-4

6. Karma Parbhu (Pitt) def. Melissa Ferry (PC) 6-7 (5), 6-0, 10-7

Seton Hall Results

Doubles

1. Marisela Aviles-Duron / Ayushi Sinha (PC) def. Verow/Kilarski (SHU) - 8-2

2. Michelle Weerasinghe/ Karina Cordero (SHU) def. Courtney Burek / Melanie Albert (PC) - 8-2

3. Jen Cusack / Melissa Ferry (GU) def. Alexandra Harvey/Liza Chu (SHU) - 8-4

Singles

1. Denise Liebschner (SHU) def. Marisela Aviles-Duron (PC) - 6-4, 7-6(5)

2. Elizabeth Verow (SHU) def. Ayushi Sinha (PC) - 6-3, 6-3

3. Belfin Sunbul (SHU) def. Courtney Burek (PC) - 6-0, 6-3

4. Karina Cordero (SHU) def. Melanie Albert (PC) - 6-2, 3-0 (Ret.)

5. Courtney Kilarski (SHU) def. Jen Cusack (PC) - 6-3, 6-4

6. Michelle Weerasinghe (SHU) def. Melissa Ferry (PC) - 6-1, 7-6(2)

Villanova Results

Doubles

1. Marisela Aviles-Duron / Ayushi Sinha (PC) def. Reed/Gobberg (VU) 8-5

2. Solberg /Urda (VU) def. Courtney Burek / Melanie Albert (PC) 8-2

3. Melissa Ferry / Jen Cusack (PC) def. Erskine/Donadio (VU) 8-4

Singles

1. Marisela Aviles-Duron (PC) def. Erskine (VU) 6-1, 6-0

2. Reed (VU) def. Ayushi Sinha (PC) 6-0, 6-1

3. Solberg (VU) vs. Courtney Burek (PC) 6-2, 6-0

4. Harding (VU) vs. Melanie Albert (PC) 6-1, 6-2

5. Urda (VU) vs. Melissa Ferry (PC) 6-3, 6-2

6. Donadio (VU) vs. Jen Cusack (PC) 6-1, 6-1

Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at Bryant Invitational on September 13, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at Holy Cross Invitational on September 27, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis versus Assumption on October 7, 2025 at 3:45 P.M.

Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at ITA Regionals (at Harvard) on October 9, 2025

Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at URI Invitational on October 25, 2025

Providence College Athletics

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Melanie Albert

Marisela Aviles-Duron

Courtney Burek

Jen Cusack

Jen Cusack

Marissa Dalferro

Melissa Ferry

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Ayushi Sinha

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