Freshman Sarah Hickey improved 17-0 on the season with her win at No. 5 singles in the NE-10 Championship on Sunday

Skyhawk Women Claim NE-10 Championship With 5-1 Win

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Easton, Mass. - The Stonehill women's tennis team claimed their third Northeast-10 Tournament Championship, but first since 1992, by defeating rival Bentley 5-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Charles Watt Courts. 

The Skyhawks came into the final as the first seed and it showed from the get go, as the No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Lindsey Herchel (Hampden, Mass.) and freshman Amy Toegemann (Narragansett, R.I.) set the tone, winning 8-3. 

The No. 2 doubles duo of junior Samantha Dircks (Stony Brook, N.Y.) and freshmen Leah White (East Walpole, Mass.) also won, 8-2, but in No. 3 doubles it was Bentley who came away with the 8-6 win. 

In singles play, Herchel won 6-0, 6-2 at No.1 and Toegemann followed up shortly with a 6-0, 6-3 victory at No. 2 to give the Skyhawks a 4-1 lead. 

Freshman Sarah Hickey (Lee, Mass.) gave Stonehill the 5-1 win when she closed out No. 5 singles with a 6-4, 6-2 victory. 

In addition to the NE-10 Tournament Championship, the Skyhawks also had three players named to the All-Championship Team, with Herchel Toegemann and Hickey receiving the honors. 

Head Coach Pam Arpe was pleased with the way her team played, "The fact that we had all these freshmen contribute and had only one junior was impressive. This team had great team chemistry and they all played for each other and didn't give up when things got down." 

Stonehill finished their NE-10 season with a perfect 12-0 regular season mark before winning 5-0, 5-3 and 5-1 in the NE-10 playoffs. 

The Skyhawks enter the NCAA Championships next week with a school record 19-3 mark but must await the NCAA's announcement of their opponent.