SPARKILL, NY – A marathon of a tennis match took place as the St. Thomas Aquinas College Lady Spartans took on the Rider Broncos on Saturday. The final match of the fall season took all of five hours to complete, and the Lady Spartans nearly defeated their NCAA Division I opponents before ultimately falling 4-3.
Senior captain Bianca Signore ’17 (Staten Island, NY) highlighted the day, winning her match up at first singles that took three sets and just under four hours to secure the win. The final point came on a tough lob where Signore had to leap at the fence to return. Spectators watches as the return dropped in play to end the match with a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (4) victory.
Playing NCAA Division I rules, the Lady Spartans won the required two-of-three doubles matches to earn one point for the team. Nyenyeri Kanefu ’18 (Rutherford, NJ) and Katarina Lopez ’20 (New City, NY) paired to win at second doubles 6-3, while Raven DeLeon ’17 (Brooklyn, NY) and Shannon Biehle ’17 (Tompkins Cove, NY) won at third doubles 6-1.
Lopez was the only double-winner of the day, as she rounded out the scoring by winning her match at third singles 6-1, 7-6 (3). At sixth singles, Carolyn Kopf ’17 (Garnerville, NY) fell in a tough third set duel.
The Lady Spartans finished their fall schedule with a 4-7 overall record.
Rider 4, St. Thomas Aquinas 3
Doubles
- Canda/Melendez (RU) def. Signore/O’Brien (STAC) – 6-4
- Kanefu/Lopez (STAC) def. Gardner/Binder (RU) – 6-3
- DeLeon/Biehle (STAC) def. Scrudato/Banks (RU) – 6-1
Singles
- Bianca Signore (STAC) def. Vanessa Canda (RU) – 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (4)
- Cyd Melendez (RU) def. Nyenyeri Kanefu (STAC) – 6-2, 6-0
- Katarina Lopez (STAC) def. Caitlin Gardner (RU) – 6-1, 7-6 (3)
- Amanda Binder (RU) def. Sara O’Brien (STAC) – 6-0, 6-0
- Daniella Scrudato (RU) def. Raven DeLeon (STAC) – 6-3, 6-0
- Olivia Banks (RU) def. Carolyn Kopf (STAC) – 6-3, 2-6, 6-4