Women's Tennis Weekly Release

Bulls Return From Florida With Pair of Wins

The University at Buffalo women’s tennis team rolled through Florida with a pair of victories over strong junior college competition as the Bulls improved to 8-1 on the season. UB opened the slate with a 5-2 win over Hillsborough Community College, the NJCAA national runner-up last season. The Bulls then picked up a 9-0 win over Florida Community College on Wednesday.

Novaceanu Welcomed Back into the Lineup

Andreea Novaceanu

The Bulls got a big boost to their fortunes as junior Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) made her way back into 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 doubles combo and scored a pair of victories. Novaceanu also scored a win in her lone singles match, defeating Florida CC’s Shayna Pierce, 6-1, 6-0, at number three.

The Deli is Open, The Bagels are Hot

Diana Toia

In the two-match stretch in Florida, seven singles players scored at least one 6-0 victory. Against Hillsborough CC, freshman Diana Toia (Rochester, NY/Brighton) allowed just one game to Margo Rice in her 6-0, 6-1 win at number six. In the matchup with Florida CC, senior Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect), at number two, junior Smaranda Stan (Stantu Gheorghe, Romania/Economic), at number four, junior Tina Jacob (Singapore/Raffles JC), at number five, and senior Katrin Fischer (Ternitz, Austria/Borg), at number six, all scored “double-bagel”, 6-0, 6-0 victories over their opponents while Harijanto, at number one and Novaceanu, at number three, scored one bagel win. Not to be outdone, the Bulls also swept Florida CC in the doubles competition with a trio of bagels, scoring 8-0 wins in each match.

Ten-Win Plateau Ascended in Singles Play

Natalie Dean

With their success in Florida, all eight of UB’s regulars have reached the 10-win plateau in singles play this season. Senior Natalie Dean (Feilding, New Zealand/Palmerston North) and Novaceanu both picked up their 10th wins of the season on the trip while Fischer scored two wins to reach 11 victories. Stan, who went 1-1 on the Florida trip, still leads the Bulls with 16 victories while Harijanto, who also went 1-1 in singles play, has 14 wins.

Bulls Hit the Road to Open MAC Play

The Mid-American Conference season starts up this weekend as the Bulls travel to Ball State and Miami (OH) for matches on Friday and Saturday. Ball State (5-7) hosts the Bulls on Friday after finishing 1-3 on their spring break trip to South Carolina. The RedHawks are 6-8 this season but had a three-match winning streak snapped on Thursday at 27th-ranked Florida International, 7-0, in their most recent competition. Miami hosts Akron on Friday prior to the matchup with the Bulls.