Over the break, the Stony Brook University women’s tennis team opened its three game road trip strong with an impressive win over Towson; however, they faltered down the stretch, losing to both Georgetown and UMBC.
The two losses bring the squad to a 6-6 record so far this season, with six games remaining before the 2012 America East Championship kicks off in Queens on April, 27.
In the win against Towson, junior Nini Lagvilava and freshman Polina Movchan not only combined to win the Number 1 double match, but they both won singles matches Numbers 1 and 2, respectively.
To give the Seawolves a 1-0 lead over Towson, Lagvilava and Movchan crushed their opponents en route to an 8-2 victory at the Number 1 doubles spot.  Senior Prerana Appineni and junior Chloe Pike were equally as dominant in the Number 3 spot as they rode an 8-3 advantage to give Stony Brook the early lead.
In single action, Lagvilava continued to play well, loosing only a single game in the victory as she defeated Towson’s Aandria Carr, 6-0 and 6-1.
Senior Salome Mkervalidze and Appineni both won straight sets in the Number 4 and Number 5 slots to propel the Seawolves to victory. At our nation’s capital, the Seawolves were hosted by Georgetown in their second match, yet despite two straight set wins from Movchan, they fell 6-1 on Thursday.
The second game of the three game road-trip did not favor the Seawolves quite as well.
Movchan improved to 7-2 at the Number 2 spot in singles play this season by defeating Georgetown’s Victoria Sekely in straight single sets, 6-3, 6-3
Movchan’s play was just about the only bright spot for the team though as the Hoyas jumped on the Seawolves early, opening the match with two doubles victories to take a 1-0 lead. With Georgetown’s winning the Numbers 4, 3, and 1 singles matches, a comeback for the Seawolves became out of reach.
As the Seawolves traveled north through Maryland to Baltimore to take on the UMBC Retrievers, they were unable to capitalize in singles play and fell, 5-2, leaving them at 6-6 on the season thus far.
Winning both their doubles games as well as the No. 1 and 2 spots in singles play brought the team success in the first game of the trip; however, UMBC fired back with four single positions to clinch the victory.
The Seawolves will return home to host NJIT in their first meeting of the season, on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.