April 4, 2010
Contact: Greg Murphy
CHICAGO, Ill. - The Cleveland State women's tennis team had its five match win streak snapped with a 6-1 setback at UIC on Sunday afternoon.
The loss drops the Vikings to 12-11 overall and 4-1 in the Horizon League.
"We didn't come out with a lot of fire in doubles and UIC was able to control those matches and get that point," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "I thought that was big because it gave them the momentum heading into singles.
"However, we were able to win the first set in four of the six singles matches so it was good to see our girls come back and regain some of that momentum. Unfortunately, we were able to win just one of those matches as they came back in the other three.
"Although we didn't win the match, I think there are a lot of positives that we can take from this match moving forward. We can still attain our goal of finishing in the top-three of the league and hopefully we will get another chance to see what we can do against a very talented UIC team in the league tournament."
Mengdi Liu was the lone Viking to earn a win, picking up a 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (6) win over Jeena Reisch at No. 6 singles.
UIC won all three doubles contests as CSU's No. 1 team of Catrine Bjerrehus and Charlotte Gibbons saw their 11 match win streak come to an end.
The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday, April 10, when CSU hosts Wright State at 10:00 a.m.
Singles
1. Mariya Kovaleva def Catrine Bjerrehus (CSU) def. 6-4 6-1
2 Ilinca Cristescu def Maria Lazaris (CSU) 6-2 6-2
3. Kristen McPhillips def Charlotte Gibbons (CSU) 2-6 6-2, 6-2
4. Elena Antakova def Nicole Janek (CSU) 3-6 6-1 6-1
5. Amy Jellish def Sanda Bjelan (CSU) 4-6 6-3 10-4
6. Mengdi Liu (CSU) def. Jenna Reisch 6-2 2-6 7-6 (6)
Doubles
1. Kovaleva/McPhillips def Catrine Bjerrehus/Charlotte Gibbons (CSU) 8-4
2. Cristescu/Antakova def Nicole Janek/Maria Lazaris (CSU) 8-5
3. Jellish/Reisch def Sanda Bjelan/Mengdi Liu (CSU) 8-3
