LAKE NONA, Fla. - Senior Paulina Loredo won her match in straight sets to seal a 4-2 team victory over No. 10 Duquesne and send Rhode Island to the quarterfinals of the 2023 Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Championship.

Playing against Duquesne's Ellen Shanahan, Loredo took a tightly-contested opening set, 7-5. She then built a 4-0 lead in the second set before Shanahan entertained thoughts of making a comeback, winning two straight games. Loredo halted the rally attempt and retook control, taking the final two games of the match to clinch the win.

The seventh-seeded Rams advanced to face No. 2 Fordham Friday morning.

Rhode Island (7-16) got an early lead when Nikki Fernando and Priyanka Shanker pulled out a marathon victory at No. 3 doubles to grab the doubles point. With the doubles score tied 1-1 - Valentina Cvackova and Sophie Herrman combined for a 6-2 win at No. 1 for the Rams - Fernando and Shanker were in a battle against Duquesne's Ana Utrilla Benito and Ellen Shanahan.

With the match tied 6-6 in games and 6-6 in the tiebreaker, Nikki Fernando hit a cross court backhand shot that Duquense could not return, setting up match point. In the next rally, Fernando sent a deep lob that landed just inside the baseline. The shot was not handled by the Dukes, ending the match.

Fernando scored the first singles point of the match as well, easily defeating Natasha Novak 6-1, 6-0 at No. 5 singles. Rhode Island's lead extended to 3-0 when Herrman dispatched of Margot Pessy 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 1 slot.

Duquesne (9-9) made things interesting with victories at No. 2 and No. 6 singles to make the team score 3-2. However, Loredo brought action to a halt with her commanding win.

No. 7 Rhode Island 1, No. 10 Duquesne
Doubles
Valentina Cvackova/Sophie Herrman (URI) def. Daniela Latoni/Margot Pessy; 6-2
Anastasiia Kotsyuba/Jasa Roak (DUQ) def. Paulina Loredo/Nadia Rajan; 6-1
Nikki Fernando/Priyanka Shanker (URI) def. Ana Utrilla Benito/Ellen Shanahan; 7-6 (9-7)

Singles
Sophie Herrman (URI) def. Margot Pessy; 6-1, 6-2
Daniela Latoni (DUQ) def. Valentina Cvackova; 6-2, 7-6
Nadia Rajan (URI) vs. Jasa Roka; 3-6, 6-2, 4-2, did not finish
Nikki Fernando (URI) def. Natasha Novak; 6-1, 6-0
Paulina Loredo (URI) def. Ellen Shanahan; 7-5, 6-2
Anastasiia Kotsyuba (DUQ) def. Ava Grnja (URI); 6-4, 6-4