WALTHAM, Mass. - No. 5 seed Southern New Hampshire University posted a 5-4 win over fourth-seeded and host Bentley University in the first round of the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship East Regional on Friday.  The Penmen, who improve to 12-4 overall, advance to face the winner of Friday's second first-round matchup between top-seeded Concordia College and No. 8 seed Philadelphia University on Saturday at 11:00 am.  That match will take place at Bentley.  The Falcons see their season come to a close at 14-9.

SNHU avenged two earlier losses to the Falcons this season.  Bentley posted a 5-4 win over the Penmen in a regular season match on March 31, then the Falcons defeated SNHU 5-3 in the Northeast-10 semifinals on April 23.

The match came down to the No. 3 singles match between SNHU's Lauren Nigrelli (Westerly, RI) and Bentley's Marcia Gilbride.  Nigrelli won the first set 7-5, before Gilbride captured the second set by winning the tiebreaker 7-5.  The third set also came down to a tiebreaker, with Nigrelli victorious by a 7-5 score in that tiebreaker.

Nigrelli, Amber Chandronnait (Bow, NH) and Catalina Echeverry (Cali, Colombia) each posted a pair of wins on the afternoon.  Chandronnait was a 6-1, 6-2 winner at No. 1 singles, while Echeverry was victorious at No. 2 singles by a 6-1, 6-1 score.  The pair also combined for an 8-4 win at first doubles.  Nigrelli and Alison Waring (Westborough, MA) earned SNHU's other point as they teamed up for an 8-4 win at second doubles.

SNHU, which is making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, has not faced either Concordia or Philadelphia this season.

NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championship - East Region First Round
No. 5 Southern New Hampshire 5, No. 4 Bentley 4

Doubles
No. 1 Amber Chandronnait/Catalina Echeverry (S) def. Heather Haggerty/Marcia Gilbride (B) 8-4
No. 2 Lauren Nigrelli/Alison Waring (S) def. Kelly Fleszar/Andrea Hollot (B) 8-4
No. 3 Kara Murphy/Ellen Mader (B) def. Courtney Blais/Meghan Welch (S) 8-3

Singles
No. 1 Chandronnait (S) def. Fleszar (B) 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 Echeverry (S) def. Haggerty (B) 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 Nigrelli (S) def. Gilbride (B) 7-5, 6-7 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5)
No. 4 Hollot (B) def. Waring (S) 7-5, 6-2
No. 5 Murphy (B) def. Blais (S) 6-0, 6-1
No. 6 Mader (B) def. Welch (S) 6-1, 6-3

Records: SNHU 12-4, BEN 14-9