ASTON, Pa. — The Pratt Institute women's tennis team began its defense of its Atlantic East Conference title with a commanding 7-0 sweep of Neumann University on Saturday afternoon at the ESCS Memorial Courts.
The Cannoneers (6-0, 1-0 Atlantic East) set an authoritative tone early, yielding just three total games during doubles play. Juniors Pallavi Verghese (Fayetteville, Ark.) and Beatrice Crespo (Kearny, N.J.) cruised to a 6-0 shutout at the No. 1 spot to spark the momentum.
Senior Srishti Agarwal (Gurugram, India) and junior Satoka Shibasaki (Tokyo, Japan) secured a 6-1 victory at No. 2. To complete the doubles sweep, senior Victoria Hatala (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and first-year Quinn Steinman (Greendale, Wis.) added a swift 6-2 triumph on court three.
Pratt carried its aggressive play into singles, winning all six flights in straight sets. Crespo and Agarwal led the charge for the black-and-gold with flawless 6-0, 6-0 victories at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, respectively.
Verghese handled the top singles flight with a decisive 6-1, 6-0 win. Shibasaki and Steinman mirrored that effort at No. 4 and No. 6 with 6-1, 6-0 scorelines, respectively.
Senior Alice Li (Beijing, China) rounded out the perfect afternoon securing a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 5 singles.
Pratt looks to maintain its perfect record when it travels to face Immaculata University on Saturday, March 28 in an Atlantic East road test starting at 9 am.
