The Berkeley College women's tennis team started its 2015 season on a winning note, as the Knights turned back the Warriors of Vaughn College on Thursday afternoon by a score of 9-0 in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest played at the USTA in Flushing, Queens. The Knights are 1-0 to begin their year, while Vaughn fell to 0-3 (0-1 HVIAC).

The Knights took an early 3-0 lead, as Berkeley captured all three doubles sets. At No. 1 doubles, Berkeley's combination of Ceren Aksoy and Maria Avila turned back Vaughn's duo of Maia Rivers and Emily German by a score of 8-2. No. 2 set doubles saw the Knights' pair of Ekaterina Zharkova and Victoria Mikalsen-Sandstad defeated Alexus Butler and Lacyrose Dickinson 8-1, and finally it was Berkeley's Alessandra Lippolis and Susan Wong shutting down the Warriors' Caridad Carattini and Courtney Scott 8-0 at No. 3 doubles.

When play switched to singles, the Knights continued to dominate. Aksoy beat Rivers, 10-3 at No. 1 singles, and Ailva shutout Butler at No. 2, 10-0. In a tightly-contested No. 3 singles set, Mikalsen-Sandstad edged German, 10-7, and Zharkova silenced Dickinson, 10-0 at No. 4. No. 5 set singles saw Lippolis down Scott, 10-1, and at last it was Wong beating Ciara Boggs at No. 6 set singles, 10-0. Following the match, Berkeley College Head Coach David Eddy gave his thoughts.

"It's always a positive to start the season off on a winning note," Eddy said. "Our goal is to build our confidence and continue to improve as the season progresses. I'm very proud of their efforts today, and we'll shoot to make it two straight victories on Saturday."

The Knights will return to action on Saturday afternoon, as Berkeley will battle the Bears of St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) on the campus of Queens College. Start-time for that match is scheduled for 3:30pm.