WALTHAM, Mass. - The Southern New Hampshire University women's tennis team earned its first-ever postseason victory with a 5-2 victory over Bentley College in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Wednesday afternoon.  The Penmen, who entered the tourney as the No. 6 seed, avenged a 5-4 loss to the Falcons just last week and improved to 8-5 on the season.  The third-seeded Falcons are now 12-6 overall.

With the win, Southern New Hampshire advances to Friday's semifinal round.  The Penmen will travel to second-seeded Saint Michael's College, a 5-0 winner over No. 7 Saint Anselm Wednesday.  SNHU defeated Saint Michael's 5-4 last Wednesday.

Southern New Hampshire posted wins in two of the four doubles matches and were victorious in three of the first four singles matches.  Juliet Verhofstad (Plymouth, NH) and Alison Waring (Westboro, MA) were 9-7 winners at No. 2, while Melissa Ramos (Stoughton, MA) and Amanda Nason (Center Sandwich, NH) upped their record at third doubles to 12-0 on the season with a 8-3 victory.

In singles play, Catalina Echeverry (Cali, Colombia) was a 6-1, 6-1 winner, while Lauren Nigrelli (Westerly, RI) was up 5-3 in the first set when her opponent retired.  Ramos was a 6-4, 6-4 winner at No. 5.
 

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Southern New Hampshire 5, Bentley 2

DOUBLES:
1. Kelly Fleszar/Kelly Nugent (B) def. Catalina Echeverry/Lauren Nigrelli (SNH) 9-8
2. Juliet Verhofstad/Alison Waring (SNH) def. Marcia Gilbride/Heather Haggerty (B) 9-7
3. Amanda Nason/Melissa Ramos (SNH) def. Katherine Giambalvo/Andrea Hollot (B) 8-3

SINGLES:
1. Echeverry (SNH) def. Haggerty (B) 6-1, 6-1
2. Nigrelli (SNH) def. Fleszar (B) 5-3 ret
4. Gilbride (B) def. Verhofstad (SNH) 6-1, 7-5
5. Ramos (SNH) def. Hollot (B) 6-4, 6-4

Records: SNHU 8-5, BEN 12-6