March 24, 2012
CHICAGO - After enduring rain delays, the UIC women's tennis team (8-3/1-0 HL) was able to come away with its 134th-straight Horizon League dual victory and a 7-0 win over Wright State (5-8/0-1 HL) on Saturday at the Flames Outdoor Tennis Courts. This is the third-straight season where the Flames have swept the Raiders.
"I thought we were focused and ready to go in doubles," head coach Shannon Tully said. "Singles was a little difficult at the start for all of the players, with a few frustrating rain delays. Once we got going, we did a good job of finding victories on all six courts."
UIC came out dominating in doubles as they took three straight. Mariya Kovaleva and Haley Craig (No. 1) took down Masha Peresetsky and Abby Lewis and the duo of Jana Knoppe and Linda Hricistova (No. 3) topped Alex Bastock and Amy Nini by 8-1 finals, while Teona Tsertsvadze and Elisa Simonetti came away at No. 2 against Taylor Hines and Kayla Tuscany, 8-2.
Heading into singles, the Flames took all six matches in straight sets. Leading off at No. 1, Kovaleva became the lone winningest singles player in UIC history with 85 after she defeated Tuscany, 7-5, 6-0. Tsertsvadze (No. 2) and Kathryn Sharples (No. 6) each took their respective first sets against Peresetsky and Chelsea Girgash to 7-5, but defeated their opponents 7-5, 6-1 and 7-5, 6-4. Craig retired Bastock at No. 3 after going up 5-1, while Simonetti captured No. 4 against Nini, 6-1, 6-0, and Knoppe closed No. 5 with Lewis, 6-1, 6-1.
UIC returns to the Flames Outdoor Tennis Courts tomorrow at 1 p.m. (CT) to take on Butler in its second Horizon League matchup of the weekend.
UIC 7, WSU 0
Doubles:
1. Kovaleva/Craig (UIC) def. Peresetsky/Lewis (WSU) - 8-1
2. Tsertsvadze/Simonetti (UIC) def. Hines/Tuscany (WSU) - 8-2
3. Knoppe/Hricistova (UIC) def. Bastock/Nini (WSU) - 8-1
Singles:
1. Mariya Kovaleva (UIC) def. Kayla Tuscany (WSU) - 7-5, 6-0
2. Teona Tsertsvadze (UIC) def. Masha Peresetsky (WSU) - 7-5, 6-1
3. Haley Craig (UIC) def. Alex Bastock (WSU) - 5-1, ret.
4. Elisa Simonetti (UIC) def. Amy Nini (WSU) - 6-1, 6-0
5. Jana Knoppe (UIC) def. Abby Lewis (WSU) - 6-1, 6-1
6. Kathryn Sharples (UIC) def. Chelsea Girgash (WSU) - 7-5, 6-4
