Saint Mary's (7-9) grabbed its seventh win of the season yesterday, 7-2 at home against cross-town rival Bethel College (10-5).
"It's always nice to beat a cross-town rival," Belles coach Chuck Rubino said. "We played excellent doubles, which really got us going. And in singles, Laura [Arnold] made a nice comeback after losing her first match and winning the tie-breaker."
The Belles kept up the momentum from their 8-1 win over Tri-State this past weekend as they swept the doubles division. Leading Saint Mary's was the No. 1 duo of sophomore co-captain Camille Gebert and freshman Jillian Hurley, who defeated Bethel's Bree Oles and Jade Walus 8-2. Gebert and Hurley move their record to 8-8, 4-1 MIAA. No. 2 pair of sophomore co-captain Lisa Rubino and freshman Betsy Reed made up for their loss this past weekend as they defeated Sherra Milender and Lindsey Dixon 8-3, putting them at 6-8 as a pair. At No. 3 doubles were freshmen Jessica Camp and Franca Peluso, winning 8-5 over Carrie Edison and Serena Frey for their second match as a pair, moving them to 1-1.
"Our doubles were really strong today," Hurley said. "They have improved a lot over the course of the season."
Saint Mary's strength continued in its singles matches as the team won four of the six matches. No. 1 Gebert defeated Oles 6-0 in one match before Oles dropped out of competition for the day. Gebert moves her record to 8-8. No. 2 Hurley won her fourteenth match of the season in her 6-0, 6-2 defeat of Walus, putting her at 14-2. At No. 3 singles, Reed lost 6-1, 6-2 to Edison, moving her to 7-8. No. 4 Jessica Kosinski was defeated as well for Saint Mary's, losing 7-6, 6-1 to Milender, putting her at 6-9. No. 5 Rubino beat Julia Horn 6-4, 6-2 for her seventh victory of the season, moving her to 7-8. Freshman Laura Arnold won at No. 6 singles over Frey in a 10-8 tie-breaking third match after losing the first match 6-2 and winning the second 6-2.
"I think this win will boost our confidence for the upcoming matches," Hurley said. "We're playing really competitive teams, and this win will help."
Rubino outlined the goal for his team's next matches very simply.
"We need to keep our momentum going," she said.
Next up for Saint Mary's is a home match against conference foe Adrian at 3:00 p.m. Thursday.
