Oct. 22, 2008

WELLESLEY, Mass. - The Rhode Island women's tennis team battled back from a 4-1 deficit to take down Wellesley, 5-4, Wednesday afternoon. The victory keeps Rhody's perfect record in tact as the Rams improve to 6-0.

"This was an excellent win for us," said head coach Sandy Wood. "Wellesley is one of the top-5 Division III teams in the country - if not higher - so it certainly was a tough match and an incredible win for the girls."

The Rams earned a victory at No. 1 doubles as freshmen twins Kirsten Leikem and Tristany Leikem defeated Jen Schwarzkopf and Mohona Siddique, 8-6.

Wellesley captured the other two doubles matches to take a 2-1 lead into singles play where it picked up two more wins at the first and second solo spots.

Trailing 4-1, Rhody battled back and evened the score as Pam Emery and Christen Cadigan grinded out three-set wins at No. 3 and No. 4 while Valerie Chacon and Amanda Barletta locked up the 5-4 win with victories at the fifth and sixth positions.

The Rams return to action this weekend at the Brown Invitational.

Singles
1 - Marie Watanabe (W) def. Kirsten Leikem; 6-3, 6-3
2 - Jen Schwarzkopf (W) def. Tristany Leikem; 6-2, 6-2
3 - Pam Emery (URI) def. Shivani Saxena; 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
4 - Christen Cadigan (URI) def. Mohona Siddique; 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
5 - Valerie Chacon (URI) def. Grace Cheng; 6-4, 6-3
6 - Amanda Barletta (URI) def. Anjalee Martin; 6-0, 6-1

DOUBLES
1 - T. Leikem/K. Leikem (URI) def. Schwarzkopf/Siddique; 8-6
2 - Watanabe/Cheng (W) def. Barletta/Emery; 8-6
3 - Saxena/Shen (W) def. Hedstrom/Chacon; 8-6

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