Garden City, N.Y. - In a rematch of last season's Northeast-10 Championship match, the Merrimack Warriors once again defeated the Adelphi University women's tennis team to advance to this year's title match. The No. 4 seeded Warriors claimed the final two points of the match to upset the top-seeded Panthers, who received a bye into the semifinals, 5-4. 

Adelphi (14-4) found themselves in an early hole as the visiting Warriors claimed two of the three matches in doubles to take a 2-1 lead. Merrimack claimed straightforward victories at No. 3 and No. 1, before Stefani Lineva and Rebecca Fakas got Adelphi on the board with a thrilling 9-7 win at No. 2. The freshmen duo led 7-4 in the match, before the Warriors claimed three straight games to tie it at 7-7. However, the Panthers would not be denied as Fakas served out the win, clinching the match and Adelphi's first point with a forehand winner. 

Charlotte Moreau claimed the first point for Adelphi in singles play, as she defeated Shakee Messina at second flight to level the match at 2-2. Joanna Haich followed with another straight-sets win at No. 4 to give the Brown and Gold their first lead of the day at 3-2. As No. 1 and No. 3 singles continued to play on, Merrmiack's Mackenzie Blair blanked Isabella Ramjeet, 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles to tie the score at 3-3, before Fakas defeated Rachel Muller at No. 5 to put the Panthers one match away from the finals.

Despite being two of the first four singles matches to get underway, No. 1 and No. 3 singles proved to decide the match. At top flight, reigning NE-10 Rookie of the Year Lineva battled reigning two-time NE-10 Player of the Year Grace Messina for over two hours, while Katarina Barborikova and Chealsey Giatrellis did the same in the third spot. After dropping the first set, 6-2, Lineva rallied to force a third with a 7-5 second set win. At No. 3, Giatrellis trailed 5-2 in the opening set before rallying to take it in a tiebreak, but Barborikova hit back to claim the second and also force a winner-take-all scenario. 

As afternoon turned to evening outdoors, both matches were forced inside at the Hempstead Lake Indoor Tennis Center to be played to completion. There, Messina completed the win over Lineva at No. 1, before Giatrellis clinched the Warriors' return to the finals by winning another tiebreak in set three. Discounting the match that was not completed in the NE-10 Championship a year ago, all three previous career meetings between Barborikova and Giatrellis went to three sets. 

Doubles
1. G. Messina/Giatrellis (MER) def. Barborikova/Moreau (ADE) 8-4
2. Lineva/Fakas (ADE) def. S. Messina/Muller (MER) 9-7 
3. Dunn/Blair (MER) def. Haich/Bianca Bernal (ADE) 8-3

Singles
1. Grace Messina (MER) def. Stefani Lineva (ADE) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
2. Charlotte Moreau (ADE) def. Shakee Messina (MER) 6-1, 6-2
3. Chealsey Giatrellis (MER) def. Katarina Barborikova (ADE) 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(4)
4. Joanna Haich (ADE) def. Danielle Dunn (MER) 6-3, 6-1
5. Rebecca Fakas (ADE) def. Rachel Muller (MER) 6-2, 6-0
6. Mackenzie Blair (MER) def. Isabella Ramjeet (ADE) 6-0, 6-0

The Panthers return to action in the spring for a slate of matches, and will be playing for a place in the NCAA East Regional.