WOMEN'S TENNIS

Roster  |  Coaches  |  Schedule / Results  |  News

Bulls Advance To MAC Championship Match With Win Over Miami

Diana Popescu

The match with Miami was delayed due to rain, but once the Bulls took the court there was going to be no denying them a third trip to the finals. UB claimed the doubles point as the first doubles team of Denise Harijanto (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Diana Popescu (Alexandria, Romania/AL. I. Cuza) defeated Anastasia Dracheva and Brintney Larson, 8-4. The doubles point was still in doubt though as UB’s number three team of Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) and Tina Jacob (Singapore/Raffles JC) staged a comeback to win their match with Leda Pesatova and Sydnee Bridger in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (6).

Denise Harijanto

With the Bulls up 1-0 they looked to the singles matches where a Miami victory at fifth singles tied the match up. The Bulls regained the lead as Harijanto defeated Larson at second singles, 6-3, 6-2. The RedHawks managed to tie the match up again at 2-2 with a sixth singles victory. That score stood for a while as the matches at first, third and fourth singles all went into three sets. The Bulls claimed their third point of the match when Popescu defeated Pesatova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and for the second straight day, junior Smaranda Stan (Stantu Gheorghe, Romania/Economic) clinched the match, defeating Megan Martzlof, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4. Novaceanu’s match with Dracheva was abandoned in the third set with Dracheva holding a narrow 5-4 advantage.

In today’s first match, Western Michigan advanced to the championship with a 4-0 victory over Bowling Green. The Bulls and Broncos have met in each of the last two MAC Championships. The championship match, which begins at noon, will be played at the Ellicott Tennis Center.

No. 6 Buffalo 4, No. 2 Miami 2

Doubles
1. Diana Popescu/Denise Harijanto (UB) def. Anastasia Dracheva/Brintney Larson (MIA), 8-4
2. Cara Wald/Megan Martzlof (MIA) def. Smaranda Stan/Diana Toia (UB), 8-3
3. Andreea Novaceanu/Tina Jacob (UB) def. Leda Pesatova/Sydnee Bridger (MIA), 9-8 (6)

Singles
1. Anastasia Dracheva (MIA) led Andreea Novaceanu (UB), 4-6, 6-3, 5-4
2. Denise Harijanto (UB) def. Brintney Larson (MIA), 6-3, 6-2
3. Diana Popescu (UB) def. Leda Pesatova (MIA), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Smaranda Stan (UB) def. Megan Martzlof (MIA), 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-4
5. Kelly Douple (MIA) def. Diana Toia (UB), 6-2, 6-2
6. Cara Wald (MIA) def. Tina Jacob (UB), 6-4, 6-1