FLUSHING, N.Y. (May 6, 2022) -- It was never going to be easy. For a moment, it looked like it might be, but then, it was decidedly not. For the second straight season, the Franklin Pierce University women's tennis team locked horns with Queens (N.Y.) in the first round of the NCAA Championship East Regional at Queens, and for the second straight season, the two produced a back-and-forth match of 3.5 hours. Once again, the Ravens, the region's sixth seed, prevailed, with a 4-3 upset of the third-seeded Knights. Junior Liria Loria (La Paz, Bolivia) provided the clinching point at third singles.

With the win, Franklin Pierce improves to 14-5, while Queens sees its season come to an end at 11-8. The Ravens will square off with second-seeded District of Columbia in the second round at noon on Saturday, at Queens.

For a time on Friday, it looked like Franklin Pierce would cruise to the first-round victory. The Ravens took a hard-fought doubles point, and chalked up straight-set wins at second and fourth singles to build a 3-0 lead. At second singles, graduate student Himani Mor (Sonipat, India) took care of senior Nathalie Ulander, 6-2, 6-2. At fourth singles, it was a 6-1, 6-2 victory for graduate student Anais Geslin (Livry-Gargin, France), over junior Gabriela Sciarrotta.

The two victories put Franklin Pierce just one point away from victory, with four singles matches still in progress. Though the Ravens trailed at first, fifth and sixth singles, third singles was going well, as Loria took the first set, 6-4, and was up a pair of breaks in the second set, against sophomore Caroline Hany-Fawzy. Loria had two chances to serve out the team match in the second set, but was broken at deuce and then at 30, as Hany-Fawzy stormed back to take the set, 7-5.

Meanwhile, sophomore Zoe Asterio Correa (Toronto, Ontario) had fallen in straight sets to sophomore Mariana Ling at sixth singles, 6-0, 6-2, as Queens got on the board. Then, things got interesting.

Sophomore Maria Penalver Aguilo (Las Palmas, Spain) rallied to force a third set at first singles, and graduate student Estela Carra (Logrono, Spain) did the same at fifth singles. It left three singles matches in progress, all headed to a third set, with the Ravens needing just one victory to lock things up.

The final point would prove tough to come by though. Aguilo wound up dropping a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 decision to junior Maja Makal, while Carra was bettered by junior Chole Certain, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

At the same time however, Loria erased any memory of her second set letdown, as she built out a two-break lead in the third set as well. This time, Hany-Fawzy could not rally, and in fact double-faulted away match point, to hand Loria a 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 victory to see the Ravens through to the second round.

Earlier in the day, Franklin Pierce had taken a hotly-contested doubles point in what was a roller coaster of its own. Carra and Geslin swept to a 6-0 win over Ulander and junior Lilly Schmidt at second doubles. With Mor and Loria in a big hole at first doubles, it looked like things would come down to third doubles, where Aguilo and Correa were on-serve early against Hany-Fawzy and Ling, despite breaks on both sides. 

At third doubles, the Queens duo eventually consolidated a break at 5-2, on the way to a 6-2 victory. Simultaneously however, Mor and Loria erased the break they had given up at first doubles and rallied for a 6-4 victory, as Queens double-faulted on match point, to gift the Ravens the doubles point and set the stage for the singles matches to follow.