FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's tennis team hosted Saint Joseph's on Sunday in a pivotal Atlantic 10 matchup, falling 4-1 to the visiting Hawks.
Saint Joseph's struck first, securing the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Mason's No. 1 duo of Lauren Splett and Cenan Liu picked up a strong 6-2 victory, but the pairs of Mary Young/Brooklyn Siegel and Maya Bayat/Lakshya Motam were edged out by their opponents.
In singles play, the Hawks extended their lead to 2-0 as Mary Young fell at No. 2. Maitree Rout was then defeated at the No. 3 spot, pushing the SJU advantage to 3-0.
Mason got on the board thanks to a dominant performance by Maya Bayat at No. 4, where she defeated Addison Melfi, 6-2, 6-1. However, the match was ultimately clinched by Saint Joseph's at the top spot, where Cenan Liu dropped a hard-fought three-set battle to Wiktoria Czerny.
Lauren Splett and Noelle Talarek were both locked in third sets when play concluded.
"This was a tough loss today. I felt like this was a very winnable match," said Head Coach Curtis. "I am still very proud of the progress of this young team."
The Patriots are set for a busy week ahead, hosting three home matches to close out the regular season. Mason will face Towson on Tuesday at 2 p.m., Delaware State on Thursday at 2 p.m., and VCU on Friday at 2 pm.
4/13/25 Mason 1, St. Joseph's 4
Doubles
1. Cenan Liu/Lauren Splett (GM) def. V. Tracey/W. Czerny (SJU), 6-2
2. C. Kordonowy/B. Tackett (SJU) def. Mary Young/Brooklyn Siegel (GM), 7-5
3. A. Melfi/C. Perez-Garcia (SJU) def. Maya Bayat/Lakshya Motam (GM), 6-4
Singles
1. W. Czerny (SJU) def. Cenan Liu (GM), 6-1
2. C. Kordonowy (SJU) def. Mary Young (GM), 6-0, 6-0
3. V. Tracey (SJU) def. Maitree Rout (GM), 6-3, 6-3
4. Maya Bayat (GM) def. A. Melfi (SJU), 6-2, 6-1
5. Noelle Talarek (GM) vs G. Tang (SJU), 5-7, 6-4, 2-1, dnf
6. Lauren Splett (GM) vs Sofia Lopez-Linares Perez (SJU), 6-2, 1-6, 5-5, dnf