Feb. 10, 2012

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Kathryn Sharples pulled away with a three-set singles win, but the UIC women's tennis team could not overcome the University of Iowa on Friday, as they fell to the Hawkeyes, 6-1, at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex. The Flames go down to 2-3, while Iowa takes their second win of the season to go 2-0.

The Hawkeyes started off by claiming the first point of the meet, taking all three of the doubles matches. Elisa Simonetti and Teona Tsertsvadze went up against Sonja Molnar and Shelby Talcott at the No. 1 position, but were unable to outlast the duo, going down 8-1.

At No. 2, Haley Craig and Mariya Kovaleva faced tough competition with Christina Harazin and Morven McCulloch, ultimately dropping the match, 8-6. Wrapping up doubles at No. 3, Linda Hricistova and Jana Knoppe tangled with Ellen Silver and Katie Zordani, before falling 8-4.

Iowa came out on top in singles as well, taking 5-of-6 matches in two sets, while Sharples was able to pull away with the lone win for the Flames. She went into a tight battle with Silver at the No. 5 position, falling in the first, 6-4, and making her way back to take the second, 7-5, and third, 1-0 (10-3).

Tsertsvadze competed at the No. 1 spot against No. 91 Molnar, but fell 6-4, 6-1. Simonetti could not outlast Talcott at No. 2 despite her comeback in the second, going down 6-1, 7-5. Knoppe rounded the No. 3 position against McCulloch, dropping 6-3, 6-2. Craig was defeated at No. 4 by Harazin in a final of 6-1, 6-2, while Hricistova fell at the No. 6 spot to Zordani, 6-2, 6-1.

UIC returns to the courts at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex tomorrow, when they take on Iowa State at 12 p.m. (CT).


Iowa 6, UIC 1
Doubles
1. Molnar/Talcott (Iowa) def. Simonetti/Tsertsvadze (UIC) - 8-1
2. Harazin/McCulloch (Iowa) def. Craig/Kovaleva (UIC) - 8-6
3. Silver/Zordani (Iowa) def. Hricistova/Knoppe (UIC) - 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles
1. No. 91 Sonja Molnar (Iowa) def. Teona Tsertsvadze (UIC) - 6-4, 6-1
2. Shelby Talcott (Iowa) def. Elisa Simonetti (UIC) - 6-1, 7-5
3. Morven McCulloch (Iowa) def. Jana Knoppe (UIC) - 6-3, 6-2
4. Christina Harazin (Iowa) def. Haley Craig (UIC) - 6-1, 6-2
5. Kathryn Sharples (UIC) def. Ellen Silver (Iowa) - 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-3)
6. Katie Zordani (Iowa) def. Linda Hricistova (UIC) - 6-2, 6-1
Order of finish: 4, 3, 6, 2, 1, 5