WOMEN'S TENNIS

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Women's Tennis Weekly Release

Bulls Open League Play With Success

The University at Buffalo women's tennis team opened the Mid-American Conference slate with a pair of victories on the road. The Bulls scored a 6-1 victory over Ball State on Friday and then knocked off Miami (OH), 5-2. Both matches were held indoors as rain showers were prevalent throughout the weekend. The Bulls are now 10-1 overall (2-0 MAC) and have won four in a row since their lone loss, a 6-1 defeat by Cornell on March 4.

Top Spots Sweep Through Weekend

Miglena Nenova

UB’s three top players on the singles ladder all posted 2-0 marks over the weekend. Senior Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect) moved back into the number one slot while freshman Denise Harijanto (Jakarta, Indonesia) and senior Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) settled into the number two and three slots, respectively. Against Ball State, the trio each won their matches in straight sets. On Saturday, Nenova picked up a shortened victory over Katrina Lomidze as Lomidze retired after dropping the first set, 6-0. Harijanto rolled to a second straight-sets win while Novaceanu needed to rally from a set down to beat Linda Jirouskova, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5.

Long Weekend for Dean

Natalie Dean

Senior Natalie Dean (Feilding, New Zealand/Palmerston North) spent a considerable amount of time on the court over the weekend as both her matches were decided in three sets. On Friday, she battled Ball State’s Christine Stromberg in the number four match as the pair split their opponent sets. With the match already decided, the two played a ten-point super-tiebreaker for the third set. The super-tiebreaker took longer than planned as Stromberg needed to go to 12 points to defeat Dean, 12-10, and win the match. On Saturday, Dean played a full three-sets with Kristen McPhillips of Miami. Dean won the opening set, 6-3, but dropped the second set, 6-2, to force the third set. In the final set, Dean held on to down McPhillips, 7-5, and take the match.

New Doubles Tandems Working Out Well

During the spring trip to Florida, the Bulls juggled their doubles lineup and it has worked out for the best. Harijanto and Novaceanu moved up to the number one spot for the MAC matches after playing in the number three spot in Florida. The pair scored 8-2 victories over their Ball State and Miami opponents over the weekend. Meanwhile, Nenova and Dean have combined to form the number two tandem. Both duos are now 4-0 and 2-0 in MAC play. The Bulls have won the doubles point nine times this season in their 11 matches.

Important Showdowns This Weekend

The Bulls face Bowling Green and MAC preseason favorite Western Michigan on Friday and Saturday at home for their next contests with both matches slated to start at 1:00 pm. The Falcons and Broncos both upened Northern Illinois over the weekend in their lone MAC contests. Saturday’s contest against Western Michigan will be the first meeting between the two teams since the MAC Championship match last May.