Women's Tennis Defeats Fairfield 7-0

Oct. 8, 2015

FAIRFIELD, CONN. - The Providence College women's tennis team advanced its record to 3-0 on the young season with a commanding 7-0 victory over non-conference rival Fairfield University. The Friars did not drop a single match en route to their second consecutive victory over the Stags in the last two years.

The Friars began the match by capturing all three doubles matches. Out of the first doubles position, the duo of senior Alana Prinos and sophomore Emma Burgess used consistent play and strong service and return games to sail to a 6-2 victory over Nicole Aragones and Sarah Stuhlmann. That win was followed up by junior Jennifer DeLuca and junior Amanda Pitocco's 6-2 defeat of the Stags' Meghan Zimmer and Karen McKeough. DeLuca and Pitocco's steady play wore down Zimmer and McKeough and allowed the Friar duo to play more aggressive tennis later in the set. The Friars finished off doubles play with senior Hannah Zangari and sophomore Brooke Burnside's 6-1 triumph over Gabriella Campos and Cecilia Parla. The match marked the second time in this fall's three matches that the Friars have swept the doubles point.

Providence College then emerged victorious in all 6 singles matches, making the squad a perfect 18-0 in dual-match singles play this fall. The first Friar off the court was Zangari, who notched a 6-0, 6-1 win over Parla in the sixth singles match. The senior's shot making abilities and aggressive style of play proved too much for the Stag's freshman. The win was Zangari's first singles victory of the 2015 fall season.

Zangari was soon joined by her doubles partner Burnside, as the sophomore cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Campos.

"I was very consistent; my first serve was on and my aggressive forehand was helpful, so all in all, it was a solid match for me," Burnside said.

With the win, Burnside continued her strong fall season singles play and improved her record to 3-0 in dual match singles tilts.

In the second singles match, DeLuca jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the first set before Stuhlmann was forced to retire due to injury.

"I was using my deep topspin groundstrokes to force errors, and when she gave me the opportunity to attack and win the point, I took it," DeLuca said after the match. "I really wanted to make sure that I didn't give her any sort of lead or momentum to work with."

The Friar junior upped her record to 3-0 in dual match singles play on the fall season.

Burgess captured the fifth Friar point of the day by way of a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Zimmer in the third singles match.

"I definitely had to remain mentally tough during today's match," the sophomore stated. "I thought that [the Friars] fought hard though, and it was great to get another win."

Pitocco then earned a straight sets, 6-2, 6-4 win over Courtney Connors out of fourth singles.

"It was a little difficult to find my rhythm because a lot of the points were very short, but I found success in hitting high and deep to her backhand and following that up with put-away volleys," the junior said after the match. "I also served really well today, so it was helpful knowing that I could count on regularly getting games off my serve today."

Finally, Prinos snagged a hard-earned 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 win over Aragones in the first singles match. The senior captain appeared in command of the match with a 6-3, 5-2 lead, but Aragones staved off two match points to force a decisive third set superbreaker. However, Prinos would rebound and pulled out a 10-8 win in the superbreaker.

"I started to make a few more errors and she continued to fight hard. I was able to pull out the third set tie breaker by just sticking to my game and staying aggressive, and I was happy that it worked out in the end," Prinos stated.

The Friars will now turn their attention to this weekend's URI doubles tournament, which will be the team's final tournament of the 2015 fall season.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Emma Burgess

Brooke Burnside

Jennifer DeLuca

Amanda Pitocco

Alana Prinos

Hannah Zangari

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