Flushing, N.Y. - Freshman Gabriela Sciarotta needed a third set to dispatch of UDC's Sofia Bellucco at fourth-singles on Saturday (Oct. 26) but that was the deciding point as the Queens College women's tennis team secured its first East Coast Conference title since 2010 with a 4-3 win over District of Columbia in Flushing.
The Knights won all ten matches they played this season with the toughest battles being 4-3 victories against a game Firebirds squad. Queens secured the doubles point with mirroring 6-2 victories at second- and first-doubles. Lovisa Engstrand and Louisa Brunetti took care of their match first before Luisa Auffarth and Maja Makal triumphed at first-doubles not more than a few minutes later.
Auffarth would give Queens a 2-0 edge as she won at No. 1 singles over Simone Parn by a 6-1, 6-2 final. Queens then led 3-0 when Aleksandra Caricic took a 6-3, 6-2 match at the sixth-flight against Estefania Castrillon. Sciarotta had won the first set against Bellucco on the No. 4 court but the Firebirds' freshman stormed back to win a 6-2 second set and force a third set. At the same time, UDC had risen back to life in the match thanks to a fifth-singles win by Izabella Bilecova (6-1, 6-4) over Ruth Artaza Martin and a straight-sets win at No. 2 by Marija Milic (6-4, 6-3) against Maja Makal.
Sciarotta was leading 4-1 and then 5-2 in the third set while third-singles wrapped up with QC's Louisa Brunetti falling to Joanna Skrzypczynska by a 6-3, 6-4 decision to knot the match up at 3-all for the moment. Then the freshman from Hewlett broke Bellucco's serve and forced her opponent to hit the match point into the net, setting off the long-awaited celebration at the Queens College Tennis Center.
Provided by the Queens Sports Information Department.
