South Easton, Mass. -- Trailing 4-3 overall, the Adelphi University women's tennis team got singles victories from Rebecca Fakas and Karen Serina to clinch its second straight Northeast-10 Conference Championship title, 5-4, over top-seeded Stonehill College on Sunday afternoon.

After entering last year's tournament as the top seed and regular season champions on home court, the Panthers (11-4) found themselves at the other end of the spectrum this season as the No. 6 seed and on the road for each of their three playoff matches. The Brown and Gold took down the top three seeds en route to defending their NE-10 crown, knocking off Assumption (No. 3) in the first round, Southern New Hampshire (No. 2) in the semifinals before defeating the regular season champion Skyhakws (12-3) in Sunday's final match.

Adelphi, who handed Stonehill its lone conference loss of the regular season by the same 5-4 scoreline on Oct. 9, won two of three matches in doubles to take the early lead in the match. The first point of the championship belonged to the home side, however, as Carolina Alvarez and Annelise Howick defeated Vanja Savic and Maria Bruzon Gutierrez at No. 3, 8-2.

The next match quickly went Adelphi's way, as Samantha Perri and Elizabeth Kallenberg sprinted out to a 5-0 lead and hardly looked back, defeating Nicole Downey and Emma Prinos, 8-1, at second doubles, leaving the tiebreaking match to top flight, as it was in the regular season. On that day, Rebecca Fakas and Karen Serina edged Victoria Barbetta and Alexandra Vo by a 9-7 score, and the championship edition of the match was equally tight. With the two sides even over 16 games, No. 1 doubles was decided by a tiebreak at 8-8, and it was the Panther pair who came out on top 7-2 for the point and the 2-1 edge.

Stonehill quickly hit back, however, as Prinos blanked Bruzon at No. 6 singles, before Perri delivered an identical 6-0, 6-0 result against Howick to put the Panthers back in front, 3-2. From there, the Purple and White seemed to grab control, with straight set victories for Colleen O'Donnell and Vo at No. 5 and No. 2, respectively, that put the Skyhawks one point away from the win. 

That left things up to Fakas and Serina again, whose matches remained in progress at No. 1 and No. 3 singles at that point. Fakas won the opener against Barbetta, 6-4, and after building a 4-1 lead in the second set, saw Barbetta hit back, eventually taking the second set to a tiebreak. In the traditional tiebreak, played first to seven, extra points were needed to determine the winner and Fakas edged it out, 9-7, for the straight sets win to knot the match at 4-4. 

Meanwhile, Serina found herself down a set after Alvarez claimed the opener, 6-3, but began to build momentum by securing an early break of serve in the second. She continued to roll from there, securing the set 6-2, ensuring that the two would have one set determine the team title. Serina built a 4-1 lead in the decider, and after Alvarez won the sixth game of the set, the Adelphi sophomore claimed the last two games for the 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 comeback win and the team title for the Brown and Gold.

"If there is anything we teach on the court at Adelphi, it is to leave our hearts out on the court," Head Coach Joanna Haich said. "From a great playoff week on the road, winning the title today for the women was just icing on the cake. We had a tough season but hard work, conviction and fight from all the players is what got them to call themselves champions once more. Win or lose, however, I can't be more proud to work with these great players. Now, we're looking forward to a few days off and heading into the NCAA Tournament in the spring."

The All-Championship Team consisted of O'Donnell and Vo from Stonehill along with Perri, Serina and Fakas from the Panthers, with Fakas being named Tournament MVP. In the three victories, Fakas went 6-0 across No. 1 singles and doubles without the loss of a set, which included a defeat of NE-10 Player of the Year Abla Chadli of SNHU in the semifinals.

Doubles
1. Rebecca Fakas/Karen Serina (ADE) def. Victoria Barbetta/Alexandra Vo (STO) 9-8(2)
2. Elizabeth Kallenberg/Samantha Perri (ADE) def. Nicole Downey/Emma Prinos (STO) 8-1
3. Carolina Alvarez/Annelise Howick (STO) def. Vanja Savic/Maria Bruzon Gutierrez (ADE) 8-2

Singles
1. Rebecca Fakas (ADE) def. Victoria Barbetta (STO) 6-4, 7-6(7)
2. Alexandra Vo (STO) def. Elizabeth Kallenberg (ADE) 6-2, 6-0
3. Karen Serina (ADE) def. Carolina Alvarez (STO) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
4. Samantha Perri (ADE) def. Annelise Howick (STO) 6-0, 6-0
5. Colleen O'Donnell (STO) def. Vanja Savic (ADE) 6-4, 6-2
6. Emma Prinos (STO) def. Maria Bruzon Gutierrez (ADE) 6-0, 6-0

2016 Northeast-10 Women's Tennis All-Championship Team
Rebecca Fakas, Adelphi
Samantha Perri, Adelphi
Karen Serina, Adelphi
Hannah Fabianski, Bentley
Abla Chadli, Southern New Hampshire
Colleen O'Donnell, Stonehill
Alexandra Vo, Stonehill

NOTES
- Adelphi improves to 2-1 overall in NE-10 Championship matches and 9-5 overall in the tournament in seven years since joining the league.
- The Panthers were ranked No. 5 in the latest edition of the Oracle/ITA East Region rankings.

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About Adelphi Athletics:
Adelphi University joined the Northeast-10 Conference in the fall of 2009 and in the past seven seasons, has collected 18 regular season conference titles, 23 tournament championships, 29 individual crowns and captured the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup three times (2013, 2014, and 2016), while winning five NCAA Division II National Championships.

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