Women's Tennis Defeats Southern Illinois, 4-3

Diana Popescu

BOCA RATON, FL – The University at Buffalo women's tennis team extended its winning streak to five matches with a 4-3 victory over Missouri Valley Conference member Southern Illinois in Boca Raton, FL on Wednesday afternoon. The Bulls are now 6-3 with one match remaining on their spring trip to Florida.

The Bulls dropped the doubles point winning just one of the three matches. UB's top combination of Denise Harijanto and Diana Popescu downed Ame Blacketer and Fadzai Mawisire, 8-4, for the lone doubles win by Bulls.

UB rallied to take the match with four singles wins as four of the six singles matches went to three sets. Both the Bulls and Salukis (5-4) took two of the three-set contests.

Popescu, at number two and Anna Subenkova, at number six, won their matches in straight sets while Smaranda Stan and Aleksandra Petrova needed to come back from first-set deficits to win their matches.

Stan, playing in the number three match, knocked off SIU's Vishakha Sheoran, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. Petrova, at number five, scored a 9-7 third-set tiebreaker win to dispose of Martina Vianna Ce, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7).

The Bulls conclude their Florida trip on Friday at Nova Southeastern.

Buffalo 4, Southern Illinois 3
Doubles
1 Denise Harijanto/Diana Popescu (UB) d. Ame Blacketer/Fadzai Mawisire (SIU), 8-4
2 Michela Cruise/Jessica Flannery (SIU) d. Aleksandra Petrova/Diana Toia (UB), 8-5
3 Martina Vianna Ce/Vishakha Sheoran (SIU) d. Smaranda Stan/Anna Subenkova (UB), 8-4
Singles
1 Fadzai Mawisire (SIU) d. Denise Harijanto (UB), 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2)
2 Diana Popescu (UB) d. Ame Blacketer (SIU), 6-4, 6-4
3 Smaranda Stan (UB) d. Vishakha Sheoran (SIU), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
4 Michela Cruise (SIU) d. Diana Toia (UB), 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2
5 Aleksandra Petrova (UB) d. Martina Vianna Ce (SIU), 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (7)
6 Anna Subenkova (UB) d. Jessica Flannery (SIU), 6-2, 6-4