Bulls Shoot Down Hawks, 5-2

Natalie Dean

TAMPA, FL – The University at Buffalo women's tennis team opened its two-match spring break road trip in Florida with a 5-2 win over Hillsborough Community College. The Bulls improved to 7-1 with the win while the Hawks, one of the top women's tennis junior colleges in the country and the NJCAA national runner-up last season, slipped to 8-8.

The Bulls opened the match by securing the doubles point. UB won the number two and three matches, highlighted by the return of Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) to the lineup. Novaceanu, who had sat out the early spring schedule due to an injury, paired with Denise Harijanto (Jakarta, Indonesia) to form the number three combo which defeated Eva Sambrano and Margo Rice, 8-2. UB's number two pair of Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect) and Natalie Dean (Feilding, New Zealand/Palmerston North) also picked up an 8-2 win in doubles play.

UB then clinched the match with four of six singles wins. Nenova defeated Mizuho Nishimura in the number two match, 7-6 (6), 6-2. Dean needed to rally from a set down in the number four contest to down Alba Passanisi, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. The bottom two singles matches turned into easy UB wins with Katrin Fischer (Ternitz, Austria/Borg) knocking off Sambrano, 6-2, 6-3, at number five and Diana Toia (Rochester, NY/Brighton) allowing just one game to Rice in a 6-0, 6-1 win at number six.

The Bulls conclude their Florida excursion on Wednesday against Florida Community College in Jacksonville.

Buffalo 5, Hillsborough CC 2

Doubles

1 Hiroko Nishikawa/Mizuho Nishimura (HCC) d. Tina Jacob/Smaranda Stan (UB), 8-2

2 Miglena Nenova/Natalie Dean (UB) d. Amanda Yogus/Alba Passanisi (HCC), 8-2

3 Denise Harijanto/Andreea Novaceanu (UB) d. Eva Sambrano/Margo Rice (HCC), 8-2

Singles

1 Hiroko Nishikawa (HCC) d. Denise Harijanto (UB), 6-2, 6-3

2 Miglena Nenova (UB) d. Mizuho Nishimura (HCC), 7-6 (6), 6-2

3 Amanda Yogus (HCC) d. Smaranda Stan (UB), 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

4 Natalie Dean (UB) d. Alba Passanisi (HCC), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3

5 Katrin Fischer (UB) d. Eva Sambrano (HCC), 6-2, 6-3

6 Diana Toia (UB) d. Margo Rice (HCC), 6-0, 6-1