The women’s tennis team wrapped up regular season play, finishing 15-8 overall. This record places them fourth overall for the upcoming Patriot League Championship Tournament. Matches from April 14-17 resulted in three victories over Maryland Eastern Shore, IUP, and Bloomsburg, with losses to Navy and Towson for the Bison.

The Bison had yet again another strong performance on the court by shutting out Maryland Eastern Shore on April 14 at home. In doubles play, the pairs consisting of Maria Cioffi ’16 and Michele Urbinati ’17, Lauren Fishbein ’19 and Lisa Jouravleva ’18, and Danielle Gannon ’19 and Madeline Melch ’18 all walked away with undefeated matches.

In the singles matches the entire team stepped up to the plate and came up with some huge wins. Gannon walked away with her first win of the spring season at No. 6, while Jouravleva, Fishbein, and Melch also dominated their matches with 6-0, 6-0 wins. Urbinati defeated her opponent 6-0, 6-1. The most impressive singles match came from Cioffi who walked away with a 6-0, 6-0 shutout at No. 1 to improve her winning streak to 14 matches.

In their next match, the Bison faced tougher competition against Patriot League rival Navy, who is ranked as the third place team in the Patriot League. The Orange and Blue came up short with a 7-0 loss, with no victories from doubles or singles matches. Cioffi’s 14-match winning streak came to an end with a tough 6-4, 6-2 loss.

The women’s tennis team trailed with a 5-2 loss against Towson on April 17. Jouravleva and Stephanie Pino ’16 were the only Bison to come out victorious against Towson at No. 2 and No. 6 singles play, respectively.

The Bison came away with two much-needed victories against IUP and Bloomsburg at home on April 19. In the single sets against IUP, Cioffi, Pino, Jouravleva, Urbinati, and Mishi Papich ’19 all had wins. In the doubles matches, Papich and Melch teamed up to walk away with a close 7-5 win at No.3. Pino and Jouravleva also took a doubles victory in the No. 2 position.

Continuing their momentum in their last regular season match, the Bison came away with a win against Bloomsburg. Melissa Parks ’17, Emilie Bush ’18, Allie Lane ’18, Jorie Fox ’17, and Gannon tallied wins for the Bison in the first five positions of singles play. In doubles, Bush and Parks and Fox and Lane marked victories in No. 1 and No. 2 against Bloomsburg.

“We expect to play Lehigh in the first round. We beat them in the regular season, but I’m sure they’ll have new strategies and be out for revenge so we are not taking that much for granted. This is definitely an attainable goal for us to get past that first round, though. After that, the match-ups become a little more difficult. We know that anything can happen, though, so the goal is to remain positive and play your best the entire tournament. We’ve played a lot of matches this spring so we are prepared as we ever will be,” Cioffi said.

The Bison will compete at the Patriot League Championships April 22-24 in Annapolis, Md.