Bulldogs sweep Dragons, 7-0, fall to Great Danes, 7-4, and Bison, 4-3, in Orlando

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's tennis team finished 1-2 over spring break in Orlando, Fla., shutting out Minnesota State at Moorhead, 7-0, while falling, 6-1, to Albany and, 4-3, to Bucknell.

The Bulldogs (2-5) opened the series of matches against Albany, with sophomore Linnea Sjoberg (Stockholm, Sweden) finding the only Bryant point when she defeated Dajana Ognjenovic, 6-4, 7-5, in the No. 2 singles slot. Classmate Ashanti Campfield (Stratford, Conn.) battled hard in the No. 5 singles spot, dropping to Chassidy King in three games, 2-6, 6-1, 10-3.

The Great Danes (7-4) swept the Bulldogs in doubles play to earn the point, as the Bryant pair of Campfield and sophomore Nina Luiggi (Nottingham, England) came up with the best finish, falling to Alba Sala and Isidora Pejovic, 6-3.

"It was a tough day at the office, factoring in the heat and wind," said head coach Barbara Cilli. "We were outplayed in doubles. In singles, Linnea had the match of the day, using the wind at her back to overpower her opponent on critical points. Campfield played well in the first set, taking advantage of her opponent's unforced errors, but the tide turned on Ashanti as her challenger started finding the court in the second set, pushing the match to a third. It was a disappointing day considering how well we played in our last match against Storybook. We didn't have what we needed to convert some of those close singles matches to "W's".

The Black and Gold found great success on day two of the tournament, sweeping Minnesota State at Moorhead, 7-0.  Junior Ryan Brown (Austin, Texas) kicked off the Bryant winning spree, defeating Jessamy Jones, 6-0, 6-3, in No. 1 singles. The rest of the team followed suit, as each Bulldog conquered their opponent in two games in singles play. Bryant held the Dragons (6-4) scoreless in three total games, including 6-0 wins by Brown, Sjoberg, Luiggi and junior Marion Bouillin (San Diego, Calif.).

Bryant earned the doubles point, after taking all three matches. Bouillin and Brown paired up to take down Jade Goodyear-Anderson and Maria Moral, 8-2, while Campfield and Luiggi outplayed Jones and Ashley Wood by a score of 8-3. The twosome of Sjoberg and junior Briana Leonard (Westford, Mass.) rounded out the doubles victories, as they trumped Morgan Smith and Ricquel Ramsbottom, 8-5.

"We were better acclimated to the heat today," said Cilli. "Minnesota is a consistent team from the baseline and that's always a challenge, but it pushed us to find ways to break that down".

In the final matchup of the tournament, the Bulldogs were edged out, 4-3, by the Bison (5-4). Bucknell took the first three points in singles play, including a close finish by Sjoberg in the No. 2 singles slot, where she fell to Lisa Jouravleva in three games, 7-5, 4-6, 10-1. Leonard and Campfield took the No. 4 and No. 5 singles contests, as Leonard defeated Michele Urbinati, 6-1, 3-6, 11-9, while Campfield cruised by Mishi Papich, 6-1, 6-1.

The Bulldogs recorded their final point of the matchup in doubles competition, as Bryant won 2-of-3 matches. The duo of Campfield and Luiggi beat Fishbein and Jouravleva, 6-3, while Sjoberg and sophomore Stefanie Arroyo (Gurabo, Puerto Rico) moved past Emilie Bush and Stephanie Pino, 6-1.

"Sometimes you live and sometimes you die by a third set tiebreaker," said Cilli.

In a series of extra exhibition matches the Bryant pair of Jovana Hadzi-Tanovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and Leonard defeated Allie Lane and Jorie Fox, 6-2. Arroyo took down Melissa Parks in three games, 1-6, 6-1, 10-3, while Hadzi-Tanovic gathered a singles win, 6-4, 6-2, over Danielle Gannon.