UMBC, Stony Brook Women, Boston U Men's Victorious on Day 1 of America East Tennis Championship

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The UMBC and Stony Brook University women, along with the Boston University men, advanced to the semifinals of the 2009 America East Tennis Championship after winning opening round matches by identical 4-0 scores on Friday at the Yale University Tennis Center.

The No. 4 Retrievers knocked off No. 5 Albany behind a pair of wins from Joy Adewumi, Cornelia Carapcea and Ana Mungo. UMBC will face No. 1 Boston University, winners of the last 15 conference titles, at 1 p.m. in the semifinals Saturday.

SBU, the No. 3 seed, on the women's side, got 6-0, 6-0 singles victories from its No. 4 Anna Pieschl, No. 5 Salome Mkervdidze and No. 6 Gayatri Krishnan. Pieschl and Krishnan also teamed up at top doubles for an 8-1 win. The Seawolves will take on No. 2 Binghamton in the other semi.

On the men's side, the fourth-seeded Terriers ousted fifth-seeded Hartford with singles wins from Tim Sickler and James Bernstein. Boston U. gets top-seeded Stony Brook in the men's semifinals Saturday at 10 a.m. No. 2 Binghamton battles No. 3 UMBC in the other semi also at 10.

The America East Tennis Championship utilizes a format of three doubles matches and six singles matches. Doubles matches are played first using eight-game pro sets with a 12-point tie-break at eight games all. The team winning two or more of the doubles matches receives one point in the team scoring. The doubles matches are followed by the singles matches using a best two-of-three sets format. Each singles match is worth one point. A minimum of four points is required to win the team match.

America East Women’s Tennis Championship
April 24-26, Yale Tennis Center-- New Haven, Conn.
Friday, April 24

Match 1 -- Opening Round: #4 UMBC 4, #5 Albany 0
Match 2 -- Opening Round: #3 Stony Brook 4, #6 Hartford 0

Saturday, April 25

Match 3 -- Consolation: Albany vs. Hartford, 1 p.m.
Match 4 -- Semifinals: UMBC vs. #1 Boston U., 1 p.m.
Match 5 -- Semifinals: Stony Brook vs. #2 Binghamton, 1 p.m.

Sunday, April 27

Match 6 -- Winner of Match 4 vs. Winner of Match 5 (Championship), 11 a.m.*


America East Men’s Tennis Championship
April 24-26, Yale Tennis Center-- New Haven, Conn.
Friday, April 24
Match 1 -- Opening Round: #5 Boston University 4, #5 Hartford 0

Saturday, April 26
Match 2-- #2 Binghamton vs. #3 UMBC, 10 a.m.
Match 2 -- Winner of Match 1 vs. #1 Stony Brook, 10 a.m.
Match 4 -- Loser of Match 2 vs. Loser Match 3, 3 p.m.

Sunday, April 27
Match 5 -- Winner of Match 2 vs. Winner of Match 3 (Championship), 11 a.m.*

*Championship match times are subject to change by the games committee if there is a team that has a dual coach.
**In the event of inclement weather, match times will be adjusted as needed.
*** log on www.AmericaEast.com for schedule/venue changes