Corsairs posted a 6-9 record and a 4th place finish in the annual Little East Conference championships
(Dartmouth, MA) -- In his second season as the women's tennis coach at UMass Dartmouth, head coach Ralph Perry's squad posted a 6-9 overall record and earned a fourth-place finish in the annual Little East Conference Championship Tournament.
Although the Corsairs recorded the same number of victories as the previous season, UMass Dartmouth's women improved in several statistical categories. The Corsairs were a combined 50-52 in singles matches during the 2001 season after posting a 41-58 record last season. In doubles competition, UMass Dartmouth finished 2001 at .500 with a 25-25 mark after going 19-22 in the previous season.
Leading the way for UMass Dartmouth in singles competition was junior Coryne Preston (North Attleboro, MA), who posted a team-best 10 victories against eight losses and a 162-128 record in games for the season. Tied for second with the most singles victories last season were senior co-captain Sarah Clapp (Norfolk, MA) and sophomore Michaela O'Connell (Harrisville, RI) with identical 9-6 won-loss records. Clapp finished second on the team with 141 games won against 144 lost, while O'Connell was third in games won with 127 against 115 losses. Rounding out the rest of the Corsairs' singles players were sophomore Erin Peters (Charlton, MA) at 7-10, sophomore Dena Haden (Sagamore Beach, MA) had a 4-2 record, followed by senior co-captain Dana Feinstein (Franklin, MA) at 2-6 and junior Laura Normandy (East Orleans, MA) at 1-4.
The combination of Preston and Peters were the Corsairs' most successful doubles team, earning a team-high five victories against seven losses. The second most successful doubles combination was O'Connell and Haden with a perfect 3-0 record. Clapp and O'Connell teamed up for a 3-4 doubles mark. Also undefeated on the season in two matches was the team of Clapp and Normandy. Overall, the Corsairs were 234-236 in games won, an improvement on the record of 216-223 the previous season.
UMass Dartmouth finished fourth overall at the eight annual Little East Conference women's tennis championships played Oct. 12-13 at the University of Southern Maine Preston advanced the furthest in the tournament for the Corsairs, advancing to the championship match for #4 singles before losing 6-3, 7-5. Three UMass Dartmouth doubles teams earned consolation round victories on the tournament's first day of activities. Clapp and O'Connell were winners at #1 doubles, while Peters and Preston took a #2 doubles consolation round match. At #3 doubles, Walsh and Haden were consolation round winners.
