PHILADELPHIA – The Southern New Hampshire University women's tennis team had a successful first day at the USTA/ITA Division II East Regional held at the Arthur Ashe Center.
In the women's A singles draw, all three Penmen competitors won their first round matches. Top seed and two-time defending champion Amber Chandronnait (Bow, N.H.) won her first round match over Concordia's Juliana Frey 6-2, 6-1. No. 6 seed Alena Mukdaprakorn (Hartford, Conn.) was a 3-6, 6-3 (10-3) winner over Concordia's Maria Ortiz, while unseeded Catalina Echeverry (Cali, Colombia) upset second-seeded Ola Roberts of Concordia 6-4, 6-4.
In the A doubles draw, Chandronnait and Mukdaprakorn advanced to the semifinals. The No. 3 seeded doubles tandem, the pair defeated Sara Durham and Zahra Hasan of University of the Sciences 8-2, then topped Ortiz and Frey 8-1. They will face Roberts and Yuliya Plevako of Concordia in Sunday's semis.
In the B singles draw, five of SNHU's eight competitors advanced to the second round. Kara Pease (Falmouth, Mass.), Samantha Jean (Bedford, N.H.), Kirsten Jean (Bedford, N.H.), Jennifer Zastrow (Rutland, Mass.) and Courtney Puddester (Wrentham, Mass.) were all first round winners.
In B doubles action, Echeverry and Pease advanced to the quarterfinals with a pair of victories, while the duo of Sam Jean and Kristen Jean as well as Meaghan Houghton (Manchester, N.H.) and Christie Cole (East Haven, Conn.) were first round winners before bowing out in the second round.
