SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Two TCNJ women's tennis players remain alive in the singles bracket of the ITA Northeast Regional championship after the first day of play at Skidmore College on Saturday.
 
Aira Abalos and Zoey Albert both survived into the Round of 16 in the championship bracket, Abalos doing so for the second year in a row at regionals. She edged Baruch's Ava DeGuzman, 4-6, 6-4, 10-7 in the first round before handling Hamilton's Grace Qian 6-4, 6-2 in the second. Abalos will take on Vassar's Erin McCusker in the third round on Sunday morning.
 
Albert played two nail-biting singles matches, starting with a 4-6, 6-4, 11-9 marathon against Hamilton's Priyanka Challapalli in the first round. She met RPI's Kaaviya Kannan in the second, and once again had to come from a set down after conceding the first in a tiebreak. She took the second set, 6-4, to forced a decisive super breaker, where she somehow managed to rally from an 8-4 hole and save a match point before clinching a thrilling 12-10 decision. Albert will face Ithaca's Taylor Crain in the third round.
 
Albert's barn-burning day continued in doubles, where she paired with Gabrielle Brideau to edge a team from St. Lawrence, 8-7 (5), in a tiebreaker in the first round. Unfortunately, the good fortune ran out in the second round, with Albert and Brideau falling on the short end of an 8-6 battle with a team from Rochester.
 
The first-year duo of Shruti Mannan and Anusha Perinkolam won a thrilling first-round match in doubles, edging a team from Hamilton in a tiebreaker. The rookies fell to the top-seeded team from Skidmore in the second round.
 
Mannan won her first-round singles match, rolling past Baruch's Natalie Bergmann 6-1, 6-2 before falling to NYU's Isabella Hartman in the second round.
 
Abalos and Sonya Pereldik lost to a duo from RIT in the first round of doubles.
 
RESULTS
Singles
1^st Round
Abalos def. Ava DeGuzman (Baruch), 4-6, 6-4, 10-7
Albert def. Priyanka Challipalli (Hamilton), 4-6, 6-4, 11-9
Mannan def. Natalie Bergmann (Baruch), 6-1, 6-2
Colette Prokop (Skidmore) def. Pereldik, 7-5, 6-1
Kayla Abraham (Pratt) def. Gabrielle Brideau, 6-2, 6-3
 
2^nd Round
Abalos def. Grace Qian (Hamilton), 6-4, 6-2
Albert def. Kaaviya Kanan (RPI), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 12-10
Isabella Hartman (NYU) def. Mannan, 6-3, 6-3
 
Doubles
1^st Round
Shruti Mannan/Anusha Perinkolam def. Ally Turtledove/Samantha Rainero (Hamilton), 8-7 (3)
Zoey Albert/Gabrielle Brideau def. Molly Jespersen/Ellie McDermed (St. Lawrence), 8-7 (5)
Maya McDaniel/Maya Clinard (RIT) def. Abalos/Pereldik, 8-4
 
2^nd Round
Konika Dhull/Grace Truong (Skidmore) def. Mannan/Perinkolam, 8-2
Josephine Libby/Katie Yang (Rochester) def. Albert/Brideau, 8-6
 
NEW PALTZ FALL SCRAMBLE
Elsewhere, a separate group of Lions competed at a scramble tournament hosted by New Paltz. Playing against the hosts and Union College (NY), six TCNJ student-athletes took part in one round of singles and four rounds of doubles.
 
Gabriella Robinson won her singles match and combined to go 3-1 with Sara Suri, while Elizabeth Ring was also a singles winner in addition to a 2-2 mark alongside Claire Hardy. Megan Pongrac won her singles bout and finished 1-3 with Mandy Fleischmann.