Gorham, ME --- Southern Maine took a pair of doubles matchups and three of six singles points to defeat Worcester State, 5-4, in Little East Conference women's tennis action this afternoon at the Gorham High School tennis courts.

With the win the Huskies earn a berth into the Little East Tournament (8-6, 3-5 LEC) while the Lancers even out to 7-7 and 4-4 in the LEC circuit.

The squads will face off again in next week's conference tournament on Tuesday at Clark University as the Blue and Gold captured the fourth seed and the right to host USM at 3 PM in their first ever home postseason contest.

In pairs play, senior Mary Moran (Windham, ME) and sophomore Jenna Willey (Windham, ME) bested sophomore Megan Shepard (Middletown, CT) and freshman Shelby Jankins (W. Brookfield, MA) in the top seeded matchup, 8-5.

Sophomore Mary Gallagher (S. Portland, ME) and classmate Courtney Aldrich (Lewiston, ME) also posted an 8-3 win over second-year Cassandra Goncalves (Ludlow, MA) and junior Danielle Candelieri (Chelmsford, MA) at second doubles.

At third doubles, senior teammates Laura Sarkis (W. Springfield, MA) and Brooke Michanczyk (Middletown, CT) edged freshman Katie Quinn (Hollis, ME) and rookie Liz Martin (Nagatuck, CT), 8-6.

Three of the six solo play matchups were decided by tie-breakers – two of them key points for Southern Maine. Willey dispatched Jankins at second singles (1-6, 7-6, 6-4), Gallagher recorded the key point over Shepard at third singles (6-3, 0-6, 6-2) and Goncalves defeated Quinn at fifth singles (7-6, 2-6, 1-0 (10-3).

Moran and Michancyzk won first and fourth singles, respectively, for their clubs while Sarkis earned the 8-7 pro-set series win at sixth singles to run her mark on the season to 9-2 as the sixth seed.

With her two wins this afternoon, Michanczyk moves into a tie for the second-most points on the all-time scoring list. She ties Suzzane Fulton (1993-96) with 51 points - just four off from tying the top spot.

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