SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The TCNJ women's tennis team added a signature victory to its persistent unbeaten streak, springing an upset of No. 40 Skidmore in a 4-3 thriller in Saratoga Springs on Sunday.
 
Shruti Mannan pulled out a three-setter at number four singles to clinch the watershed win for the Lions, who extended their season-opening run of perfection to 11 consecutive duals.
 
Despite the razor thin overall margin, the individual matches themselves were mostly lopsided – other than Zoey Albert's 7-5, 6-1 loss at number two, all of the singles matches besides Mannan's finished in straight sets, and without a single set closer than 6-3 among them.
 
Skidmore dominated at the top, but TCNJ's depth at the bottom of the lineup carried the day.
 
The Thoroughbreds won 6-3 at number one doubles, but by then it was already too late. Eleni Dakos and Gabrielle Brideau blanked their opponents at number two, and Elizabeth Ring and Gabriella Robinson easily dispatched Skidmore's number three tandem, 6-1, to lock up the crucial doubles point.
 
Skidmore won convincingly on the top three singles courts, but the Lions did so down the lineup, and that made all the difference. Robinson (6-3, 6-0) and Ring (6-1, 6-2) each won easily at number five and number six, respectively, setting the stage for Mannan's do-or-die clincher.
 
Cruising along at 6-2, 4-0, Mannan dropped six straight games to concede the second set and fell behind 1-0 in the decisive third. But she turned on the jets from there, running away with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 triumph over Maggie English.