Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. - The Nichols College women's tennis team fell to Springfield College 5-4 Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action at the Robinson Tennis Courts.

The match was tied up four with just the No. 6 seed singles match left to finish. An injury forced junior Samantha Rydell (Williamstown, Mass.) into action, and she fell behind early, dropping the first set 4-6 to Pride junior Alanna Grady (Springfield, Mass.). She bounced back with a 6-4 win in the seconds set to force a third set for the match.

In the third and decisive set, Rydell quickly fell behind 0-5 before she rallied to pull even at five. Grady responded by winning the next two games to take the match and capture the win for Springfield.

Nichols' junior Lindsay Benoit (Holden, Mass.) and senior Anna Dyakiv (Amsterdam, N.Y.) had no trouble in their singles matches as Benoit won over Rachel London (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) at No; 1 singles, 6-1, 6-4, while Dyakiv defeated Springfield's Sydney Streimer (Mystic, Conn.) at No; 2 singles, 6-1, 6-0.

The aforementioned injury forced Nichols juniors Katie Malloy (Norwell, Mass.) and Kelsey Peterson (Fairbanks, Alaska), along with freshman Emma Carey (Venice, Fla.), to move up a spot in the lineup. Carey fell at No. 3 singles to sophomore Melanie Thulin (Manchester Center, Vt.), 6-0, 6-1, Peterson was upended at No. 4 singles by sophomore Ariana Shemms (Goshen, Conn.), 6-2, 6-0, and Malloy fell in straight sets at No. 5 singles to freshman Stephanie Foster (Woodbridge, Conn.), 6-2, 6-0.
 
The Bison's No. 1 doubles team of Dyakiv and freshman Cristina Szepanski (Windsor Locks, Conn.) was victorious over Thulin and Shemms, 8-6, while the No. 2 duo of Benoit and Carey scored an 8-2 win over London and Foster. Springfield's No. 3 team of Streimer and Grady downed senior Erin Rivers (Bristol, R.I.) and sophomore Michelle Keklik (Stratford, Conn.), 8-6.

"Our doubles teams were solid. They played the best they have all season," said Nichols head coach Paul Brower. "Anna and Lindsay were fantastic and took care of business. Unfortunately, an injury occurred which hurt us in singles, as we had to move everyone up one slot. Samantha did an amazing job stepping in, but she wasn't able to beat a very good No. 6 from Springfield."

Nichols is back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 pm when it takes on the Cougars of Clark University. Springfield opens its home schedule on Saturday against Wheaton College.