Miglena Nenova

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's tennis team returned to the .500 mark for the season on Friday with a 7-0 loss to Marshall University, ranked 48th in the country by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. UB is now 7-7 overall and 0-5 in the Mid-American Conference while Marshall, the top squad in the MAC, improved to 14-3 and 4-0 in the league. The match was moved indoors to the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville because of the cold and rainy conditions in Western New York this week.

In doubles play, UB's Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect) and Kristen Ortman (Amherst, NY/Amherst) gave the duo of Jessica Johnson and Ashley Kroh a strong battle. UB took a 2-0 lead early in the match against the 14th-ranked doubles team in the country, but Johnson and Kroh then took the next eight of nine games to secure an 8-3 victory. UB's number two team of Katrin Fischer (Ternitz, Austria/Borg) and Sheri Ugowski (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) were defeated by Alice Sukner and Lille Nzudie, 8-1. UB's number three team of Lisa Wittman (Cheektowaga, NY/Cheektowaga) and Erica Zielinski (North Tonawanda, NY/North Tonawanda) dropped an 8-0 decision to Danielle Hock and Megan Skalsky.

The Bulls were also swept in the singles competition but put up a good fight. Johnson downed Nenova, 6-4, 6-2, at first singles. Ortman, who took a 2-1 lead in the first set before suffering an ankle injury, played through the pain but was unable to defeat Sukner, 6-2, 6-1. Kroh downed Fischer at number three, 6-1, 6-0. At number four, Wittman fell to Nzudie, 6-0, 6-1. Zielinski dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to Joelle Good at number five. Onessa Williams (Albany, NY/Albany/Mohawk Valley CC) was defeated at number six by Hock, 6-1, 6-0.

Although the final score showed a Marshall sweep, UB did not back down against the nationally-ranked Thundering Herd. "What we want to accomplish when we play a good team like this is to be physically confident for every point no matter the outcome," said UB head coach Kathy Twist. "The games were closer than the scores looked. We had a lot of 40-30's and deuces."

The Bulls will head indoors again tomorrow as they host Miami (Ohio) at the Village Glen Tennis Center in Williamsville. Match time is 1:00 pm.

Marshall 7, Buffalo 0

Doubles

1 Jessica Johnson/Ashley Kroh (MU) d. Miglena Nenova/Kristen Ortman (UB), 8-3

2 Alice Sukner/Lille Nzudie (MU) d. Katrin Fischer/Sheri Ugowski (UB), 8-1

3 Danielle Hock/Megan Skalsky (MU) d. Lisa Wittman/Erica Zielinski (UB), 8-0

Singles

1 Jessica Johnson (MU) d. Miglena Nenova (UB), 6-4, 6-2

2 Alice Sukner (MU) d. Kristen Ortman (UB), 6-2, 6-1

3 Ashley Kroh (MU) d. Katrin Fischer (UB), 6-1, 6-0

4 Lille Nzudie (MU) d. Lisa Wittman (UB), 6-0, 6-1

5 Joelle Good (MU) d. Erica Zielinski (UB), 6-0, 6-0

6 Danielle Hock (MU) d. Onessa Williams (UB), 6-1, 6-0