The Monmouth University women’s tennis team defeated Lafayette 4-3 on Thursday in Easton Pennsylvania, securing their first win of the fall season.
Junior Zoe Klapman, Sophomore Madison Mills, and Freshman Jo Pax each collected two wins in the non-conference contest.
“It was a great all-around performance by our team today to beat Lafayette. Madison, Zoe, and Jo all had two wins. We had a great effort in doubles to win the doubles point” said Head Coach Patrice Murray.
In singles competition, Klapman bested Jessica Siegel of Lafayette within the first two sets, 6-3, 6-0. Following her singles performance, alongside Pax, Klapman defeated the Lafayette pair of Halle Denardo and Cecelia Lesnick, 6-2. Pax had a singles win of her own, coming out on top of Emma Menkowitz.
Pax joins the Hawks from Plainfield High School in Indiana, where she earned a 19-3 record as a senior captain. Pax received First Team All-State honors in her senior year.
Mills picked up her singles competition win against Eleanor Campbell. Mills took the first set 7-6, following with a 6-4 victory in the second set, sealing the win. In doubles, Mills joined forces with freshman Lauren Landstrom. Mills and Landstrom took the victory over the pair of Seigel and Campbell, 6-3.
Last season, Mills earned a 5-3 record in doubles play, including a 3-2 mark with teammate Lenien Jamir. Mills helped the Hawks stun Fairfield on April 7 with wins in the fourth singles and second doubles matches.
With the win over Lafayette, the Hawks improve to 1-2 before traveling to Kingston, Rhode Island to take part in the three-day URI Invitational that runs from Oct. 8-10.
On Friday afternoon at the invitational, the Hawks fell 6-1 to the University of Rhode Island. In first singles, Ann Spurka trailed 1-8 in the third set and fought all the way back, but came up just shy of claiming the win.
Coming off a strong performance against Lafayette, Klapman picked up two more wins, each of which were the Hawks sole victories in both singles and doubles competitions. In singles competitions Klapman took the victory over Sydney Chratian of Rhode Island, 6-1, 6-2. In doubles competitions, Klapman and Pax bested Gracie Campanella and Klara Nelander, 6-1.
In the 2020-21 season, Klapman registered a 5-3 record in singles play, always competing from the third spot. Klapman went 3-5 in doubles, including three wins with teammate Sophia Fredriksson.
“It was a really good team effort. We had our chances and had some close singles and doubles matches against a team that had a national ranking last year,” said Murray.
After the loss on Friday, Monmouth falls to a 1-3 record. The Hawks will remain in Kingston, R.I. to participate in the Rhody Doubles Tourney on Saturday at 10:00 a.m.. On Friday Oct. 15 at 3:30 p.m. the Hawks will return to West Long Branch to contest Wagner. In the 2020-21 season, Monmouth dropped a close match to Wagner, 4-3.
To stay up to date with Monmouth Women’s Tennis as they continue to compete this fall, follow @MonmouthWTen on Twitter.
