St. Petersburg, Fla. (April 1, 2008) – The No. 29 Saint Leo women’s tennis team (8-6, 2-4 SSC) triumphed over the Eckerd College Tritons (0-12, 0-6 SSC) Tuesday afternoon by the score of 8-1.

Saint Leo swept through doubles action setting the stage for them the rest of the day. The Lions’ duo of Lina Benkirane (So., Casablanca, Morocco) and Asmaa Tazi (Jr., Casablanca, Morocco) conquered the Tritons pair of Madora Mak and Mary Charlotte Mak 8-4. The No. 2 doubles pair of Shaena Keefe (So., Spring Hill, Fla.) and Taylor Cleaves (So., Norwell, Mass.) controlled their match over the Tritons duo of Flavia Russo and Danielle Loizzo winning 8-4. The Lions final doubles pair of Veronica Queen (Fr., Valrico, Fla.) and Gina Schifano (So., Tampa, Fla.) blanked Rachel Chiliton and Rachel Harbeitner 8-0.

Singles action was just as successful for the Lions winning five of the six matches played. The lone loss for the Lions came from the No. 1 position as Benkirane dropped her match to M. Mak in three sets 6-1, 0-6, 6-4. The Lions rallied off the next five points in the match, as Tazi defeated MC Mak 6-3, 6-0 in the No. 2 spot and Keefe blew by Russo 6-1, 6-1 in the No. 3 position. Queen made quick work of Loizzo in the No.4 spot winning 6-1, 6-0 and Schifano rolled past Chiliton in two sets 6-1, 6-0. Cleaves finished out the afternoon on a positive note for the Lions racing past Harbeitner 6-0, 6-1.