April 23, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS- The UIC women's tennis team won their 15th-straight Horizon League Championship, as the Flames went on and defeated No. 2 Cleveland State Saturday afternoon, 4-1.
"Today's win was really one of the best wins I have seen in a long time," said head coach Shannon Tully. "Every Championship victory has been special for me in its unique way, but this team has been pushed all year and we had to really step it up today. We went into singles play with momentum after winning the doubles point. Also, it helps out when Elisa [Simonetti] and Linda [Hricistova] finish off their opponents early in the first two singles matches. Mariya [Kovaleva] was solid as she always is, and got the game winning point by being herself and playing as an experience player that she is. I am extremely proud of the girls and look forward to see who we play in the NCAA tournament."
UIC (18-4, 8-0 Horizon League) took the doubles point from Cleveland State, winning at the top two spots. Juniors Kovaleva and Simonetti defeated CSU's Alex Bush and Alex Power, 8-5. At the No. 2 doubles spot, senior Ilinca Cristescu and junior Teona Tsertsvadze took down CSU's Catrine Bjerrehus and Maria Lazaris in a close one, 8-6.
In singles play, Hricistova won her team best 18th match when she defeated CSU's Mengdi Liu in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3. Simonetti finished shortly after at the No. 4 slot, and took it to CSU's Lazaris and winning in convincing fashion, 6-3, 6-4. Three-time Horizon League Player of the Year Kovaleva secured the Flames 15th-straight championship by defeating CSU's Bjerrehus, 7-5, 6-2.
With the victory today, UIC has now won 133-consecutive matches in a row versus conference foes, and head coach Tully is 100-0 versus Horizon League opponents since being at the helm of the program since the 2001-02 season.
The Flames opening round opponent in the NCAA tournament will be announced during the selection show, beginning at 4 p.m. CST on Tuesday, May 3rd.
No. 1 UIC 4, No. 2 CSU 1
Singles:
1. Mariya Kovaleva (UIC) def. Catrine Bjerrehus (CSU) 7-5, 6-2
2. Alex Bush (CSU) def. Teona Tsertsvadze (UIC) 6-1, 6-2
3. Ilinca Cristescu (UIC) vs. Kara Sherwood (CSU) 6-1, 3-6, 1-3 DNF
4. Elisa Simonetti (UIC) def. Maria Lazaris (CSU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Jana Knoppe (UIC) vs. Alex Power (CSU) 6-3, 0-6, 3-0 DNF
6. Linda Hricistova (UIC) def. Mengdi Liu (CSU) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles:
1. Kovaleva/Simonetti (UIC) def. Bush/ Power (CSU) 8-5
2. Tsertsvadze/Cristescu (UIC) def. Bjerrehus/Lazaris (CSU) 8-6
3. Sherwood/Liu (CSU) vs. Knoppe/Hricistova (CSU) 8-7 DNF
Order of Finish
Singles: 6, 4, 2, 1
Doubles: 1, 2
