Results 

In a rematch of last season's Northeast Conference Women's Tennis Championship match, the top-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, the NEC runner-up the past two seasons, reversed their fortune with a hard fought 4-2 victory over Quinnipiac on Sunday at the Mercer County Indoor Tennis Center in West Windsor, NJ to clinch FDU's first women's tennis championship since 1988.

The Knights, who see their record improve to 16-7, will be this year's representative in the NCAA Tournament from the NEC. With a win in the men's championship match earlier in the day, FDU becomes the first school since 2006 to capture NEC men's and women's tennis titles in the same season.

FDU, winners of the doubles point and three singles matches, was in for a battle in the early going against a second-seeded Quinnipiac team that the Knights beat 7-0 earlier in the spring.

The Knights' top doubles tandem of NEC Player of the Week junior Anna Rapoport (Moscow, Russia/#1239 ) and senior Irina Dementyeva (Moscow, Russia/W 91) were leading Quinnipiac's Rachel Cantor and Sarah Viebrock at No. 1 doubles by a score of 6-3 when doubles play ended. 

At No. 3 doubles, FDU was victorious thanks to the play of senior Elmine Botes (Heidelberg Gauteng, Rep. of South Africa/Hoer Volkskool and British International Distance College) and sophomore Manuela Leme (Varginha, Brazil/E.E. Antania Alves Cruz). It was also the eighth doubles win for Botes/Leme as they took down the Bobcats' Ariana Launie and Lavinia Cristescu, 8-1.

The Knights were able to add another doubles win at No. 2 where senior Julia Prantl (Benediktbeuern, Germany/GUS-Gymnasium Bad Tolz) and junior Egzona Morina (Prishtina, Kosovo/American School of Kosovo) defeated Michelle Dassa and Jacqueline Raynor, 8-2, to wrap up the doubles point.

The action started to heat up in singles play when Quinnipiac got a point back with a win by Viebrock at No. 3  by a score of 6-1, 6-1 over Prantl.

At No. 1 singles, the Knights regained the lead with a straight-set 6-2, 6-1 win by Rapoport against QU's Cantor. For Rapoport, it was her 17th overall win, 11th at No. 1 singles on the season and improved her winning percentage to .846 in singles play.

The play seesawed back and forth as Quinnipiac's Cristescu scored a 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 win over Leme at No. 6 singles to even the match at 2-2.

FDU was able to respond quickly with Morina's No. 5 win over Launie. Morina had to fight for her victory, however, after she fell behind and lost the first set, 6-3. In the second set, Morina bounced back with a 6-4 win before closing out the match with a 6-1 victory in the decisive third set.

The fate of the match was still hanging in the balance as play continued at No. 2 and No. 4 singles. At No. 2, Botes won her first set, 6-4, while Dementyeva at No. 4 lost their first sets by a score of 6-0. Botes dropped her second set, however, by a score of 7-5 as Dementyeva came away a winner at 6-2 in her second set. In the third set, Dementyeva was able to pull out a 6-3 victory over Dassa to cement the NEC Championship.

FDU will find out its opponent for the NCAA Tournament on Tuesday, May 1, at 5:30 p.m. The pairings will be revealed on ncaa.com, and the tournament will begin the weekend of May 11.

Doubles 
1. RAPAPORT, Anna/DEMENTYEVA, Irina (FDU) vs. CANTOR, Rachel/VIEBROCK, Sarah (QU) 6-3, unfinished
2. PRANTL, Julia/MORINA, Egzona (FDU) def. RAYNOR, Jacqueline/DASSA, Michelle (QU) 8-2
3. BOTES, Elmine/LEME, Mauela (FDU) def. LAUNIE, Ariana/CRISTESCU, Lavinia (QU) 8-1
 
Singles 
1. RAPAPORT, Anna (FDU) def. CANTOR, Rachel (QU) 6-2, 6-1
2. BOTES, Elmine (FDU) vs. RAYNOR, Jacqueline (QU) 6-4, 5-7, 0-3, unfinished
3. VIEBROCK, Sarah (QU) def. PRANTL, Julia (FDU) 6-1, 6-1
4. DEMENTYEVA, Irina (FDU) def. DASSA, Michelle (QU) 0-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. MORINA, Egzona (FDU) def. LAUNIE, Ariana (QU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
6. CRISTESCU, Lavinia (QU) def. LEME, Mauela (FDU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-0