BOSTON, Mass. – The Worcester State University (2-2, 0-1 LEC) women's tennis team battled with the UMass Boston Beacons (1-2, 1-0 LEC), only to fall 6-3 in their first Little East conference match.

In a matchup of two teams picked two spots apart in the Little East Conference Preseason Poll, UMass Boston used a sweep of doubles to earn their first win of the season, defeating the Lancers for the first time since 2011. 

Each of the three doubles matches were extremely tight. The Beacons' third doubles pair of Nurcin Celebi and Kathleen Conroy opened the match with an 8-5 win over Worcester State's Cassandra Gonclaves (Ludlow, Mass.) and Olivia Budney (Webster, Mass.). After falling behind early, the Beacons top doubles pair earned an 8-5 victory of their own, as Kristy Garcia (Miami, Fla.) and Logan Smith (Southwick, Mass.) defeated Shelby Jankins (West Brookfield, Mass.) and Megan Shepard (Middletown, Conn.). 

In the final and most tightly contested doubles match, Nathalie Khafaga (Auburn, Mass.) and Alexis Silk (Greenfield, Mass.) couldn't hold on tight, as they faced the Lancers' third loss at doubles against UMass Boston's Kelsey Shea and Vicky Woytowicz.

The Lancers would turn the tables on the Beacons to begin singles play, as Silk (fourth singles), Jankins (first singles) and Goncalves (fifth singles) all earned two-set wins to tie the match 3-3.

Smith gave the Beacons the lead right back at second singles, as the senior captain earned her first career win at second singles with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Shepard.

Celebi tacked on the all-important fifth point at third singles in another of her patented three-set matches. The senior took the first set 6-3, before falling 6-3 to Khafaga in the second set. In the final set, Khafaga went up 3-0, only to have Celebi win six of the final seven games to earn a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory.

In the final match of the day, Shea came back from multiple deficits to defeat Budney 6-7 (7-4), 7-5, with a 10-4 win in the third-set super tiebreaker.

The Lancers will continue weekend play tomorrow at Nichols College with a 9:00 a.m. start time.

Singles Competition

1. Shelby Jankins (WSU) def. Kristy Garcia (UMB) 6-3, 6-2
2. Logan Smith (UMB) def. Megan Shepard (WSU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Nurcin Celebi (UMB) def. Nathalie Khafaga (WSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
4. Alexis Silk (WSU) def. Vicky Woytowicz (UMB) 6-0, 6-0
5. Cassandra Gonclaves (WSU) def. Meghan Erickson (UMB) 6-2, 6-3
6. Kelsey Shea (UMB) def. Olivia Budney (WSU) 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 10-4

Doubles Competition

1. Kristy Garcia/Logan Smith (UMB) def. Shelby Jankins/Megan Shepard (WSU) 8-5
2. Kelsey Shea/Vicky Woytowicz (UMB) def. Nathalie Khafaga/Alexis Silk (WSU) 9-8 (8-6)
3. Nurcin Celebi/Kathleen Conroy (UMB) def. Cassandra Gonclaves/Olivia Budney (WSU) 8-5

Release Courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information