DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College women's tennis team defeated Saint Anselm 8-1 in non-conference action Sunday afternoon at the Robinson Tennis Courts.
 
Freshman Lindsey Kaplan (Boca Raton, Fla.) passed Anna Dyakiv, Maria Balabanova, and senior captain Cristina Szepanski (Windsor Locks, Conn.) in single-season doubles wins with her 21st against the Hawks. Szepanski matched her former record with her 20th doubles win of the year.
 
Kaplan and Szepanski got things started for the Bison – picking up a quick 8-0 win at No. 3 doubles over sophomores Eleni Petromelis (Peabody, Mass.) and Kayla Hodas (Peabody, Mass.) before freshmen Isabelle Leonardi (North Hampton, N.H.) and Danielle Mandel (Fair Lawn, N.J.) won their No. 2 doubles match 8-4 over sophomore Tess Malerbi (Scituate, Mass.) and junior Ashley Sulkin (Ipswich, Mass.).
 
Freshman Amarie Settiwongse (Bangkok, Thailand) – the CCC Player and Rookie of the Year – and junior partner Ashley Dallaire (East Bridgewater, Mass.) rounded out the sweep of doubles with a win at the top flight 8-5 over junior Jess Perkins (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and freshman Kaitlin Hughes (Rockland, Mass.).
 
The Bison picked up where they left off in the singles matches. Junior Daniela Saldarriaga (Medellin, Colombia) earned the win at No. 4 singles over Sulkin 6-0, 6-0 followed by a Leonardi win at No. 5 singles over sophomore Lexi Stathis (Belle Harbor, N.Y.) 6-0, 6-1.
 
The Hawks earned their only point of the match at No. 1 singles as Perkins upset Settiwongse 6-0, 6-0.
 
Freshman Rachel McDonald (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) answered back with a 6-1, 6-2 win at No. 6 singles over Hodas. Junior Alanna Judd (Westborough, Mass.) then earned a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 2 singles over Malerbi and freshman Megan Nathanson (Scarborough, Maine) finished off the day with a win over Hughes at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 7-5.
 
Quotes
"Great way to start off the spring. Our doubles teams got us off to a great start. Congratulations are certainly in order for Lindsey Kaplan with a big personal milestone today." – Nichols head coach Paul Brower
 
"In singles we really took care of business at the bottom of the lineup. It was great to see us return to form so quickly as we prepare for NCAA's." – Brower on the way the team looks in their first match of the spring
 
All-Time Series
This was the first meeting between the Bison and the Hawks with Nichols now leading the all-time series at, 1-0.
 
Next Games
Saint Anselm (7-9) – Saturday, April 22 at Regis, 2:00 p.m.
Nichols (15-3) – Wednesday, April 12 vs New Paltz, 3:30 p.m.