Video of final point (Twitter link)

FLUSHING, N.Y. (May 10, 2021) -- It was a Herculean effort from a banged up Himani Mor (Sonipat, India) on Tuesday afternoon. Down a set, the graduate student rallied to force a third. Down an early break, and then a late break, and visibly fighting lower-body pain, she rallied both times to force a tiebreak. The tiebreak was never in doubt. Up by a bundle, Mor unleashed one final serve, forced a wide return, and was met with a hero's welcome from her teammates on Court 2 at the Queens (N.Y.) College Athletic Complex. The No. 48 nationally ranked and second-seeded Franklin Pierce University women's tennis team had claimed the NCAA East Regional title, with a 4-2 win over fourth-seeded Stonehill.

With the win, Franklin Pierce keeps its perfect season alive at 14-0 and claims the program's first-ever regional title. The Ravens will advance to the national quarterfinal, which is scheduled for Wednesday, May 19, at Surprise Tennis & Racquet Club in Surprise, Ariz., which will host the remaining rounds of the NCAA Championship. With the loss, Stonehill's season comes to a close at 11-4.

Franklin Pierce will be joined in the Grand Canyon State by the champions of the seven other regions, and the eight teams will be re-seeded prior to play. As such, Franklin Pierce's quarterfinal opponent is still unknown at this time. By virtue of changes to the way the tennis championship is conducted, the Ravens become the first East Region team to advance to the national quarterfinals since NYIT in 2014.

As the match reached its terminus, Franklin Pierce held a 3-2 lead with the remaining two singles matches both in the third set. At third singles, sophomore Liria Loria (La Paz, Bolivia) had slipped past senior Isabelle Porter in the first set, 7-5, but then the two went to a tiebreak in the second set. Loria took a lead and had three match points, but saw Porter erase them all and roar back to take the tiebreak, 8-6, and thus the second set, 7-6.

Meanwhile, Mor's match at second singles was worthy of a recap from the Greek author Homer, as it was nothing short of an odyssey. Sophomore Steffi Antao cruised to a 6-2 victory in the first set, but that's when Mor decided to put the team and the match on her back, with little regard for her own well-being. The native of the subcontinent rallied back for a 6-2 win of her own to force the third set. Antao scored an early break and jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the decisive set, and then things got really interesting.

Mor posted a break of her own and got the set level at 5-5, but then had her serve broken again. Leading 6-5 and serving for the match, Antao came undone. Back-to-back double faults opened the door and Mor walked right through it, broke back and sent the match to a third-set tiebreak.

Antao was never in the tiebreak. Mor won the first two points. Antao got one back to make it 2-1, but by then Mor had had enough. She rattled off four straight points to give herself five straight match points, but she would only need one. The final serve of the day jammed Antao, who could muster only a stifled backhand, which fell wide on the right side and sent the Ravens off to Arizona (video).

Earlier in the day, Franklin Pierce notched early breaks at both second and third doubles to take the early advantage in doubles play. Second doubles would go quickly, as freshman Maria Penalver Aguilo (Las Palmas, Spain) and sophomore Laura Alvarez Tello (Vigo, Spain) breezed to a 6-2 win over Porter and junior Samantha Ormesher. Stonehill had the answer at first doubles, where it was a 6-4 win for Antao and sophomore Cristina Solorzano Valencia over Loria and Mor.

Meanwhile, the Skyhawks had rallied at third doubles, which had drawn level at 5-5. Franklin Pierce picked up a late break though, and then freshman Zoe Asterio Correa (Toronto, Ontario) served out the match with relative ease. The Canadian and graduate student Estela Carra (Logrono, Spain) locked up a 7-5 win over junior Emma Markaryan and sophomore Lily Peter to clinch the doubles point for the Ravens.

Franklin Pierce quickly pushed the lead to 2-0 with an early win at fifth singles. Carra blanked an ailing Ormesher in the first set 6-0, and then the latter retired. Shortly thereafter, Asterio Correa made it 3-0 by waltzing past Peter at sixth singles, 6-3, 6-2.

Stonehill cut the gap to 3-2, but no further, with straight-set wins at first and fourth singles. At first singles, Solorzano Valencia went past Penalver Aguilo, 6-3, 6-4. At fourth singles, it was a 6-4, 6-4 victory for Markaryan over Alvarez Tello. It all left the Ravens needing a win at either second or third singles to close out the match, and Mor made sure they did.