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Bulls Cruise Into MAC Semifinals

Andreea Novaceanu

TOLEDO, OH – The University at Buffalo women’s tennis team opened play in the 2007 Mid-American Conference Women’s Tennis Championships with a convincing 4-0 victory over Ball State on Friday afternoon to move into the semifinals. The match was played at the University of Toledo’s Varsity Courts.

With the win, the Bulls, seeded second in the tournament for the second consecutive season, tied the school record for victories in a season, picking up their 16th against just two losses. UB was 16-5 last season when the Bulls advanced into the championship match of the MAC Tournament for the first time in school history.

UB opened play with a pair of easy doubles wins to clinch the opening point against the Cardinals (7-14). UB’s number one team of Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) and Denise Harijanto (Jakarta, Indonesia), both named the All-MAC second team on Thursday, knocked off Haly Calderwood and Sophie Quist, 8-2. UB’s number three team of Katrin Fischer (Ternitz, Austria/Borg) and Tina Jacob (Singapore/Raffles JC) won their fifth consecutive match as a pair, downing Emma Retter and Katherine Rist, 8-6. Play was stopped when UB clinched the point although UB’s number two team of Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect) and Natalie Dean (Feilding, New Zealand/Palmerston North) held a 7-2 lead over Jennifer Pollack and Christine Stromberg.

Denise Harijanto

The Bulls sealed the match with three quick singles victories in the number two, three and four contests. In the number two match, Harijanto defeated Calderwood, 6-2, 6-1 for her 20th singles win of the season. Novaceanu also scored a 6-2, 6-1 win over Pollack in the number three match. Dean allowed just one game off her racket as she defeated Stromberg, 6-1, 6-0.

The remaining three matches were stopped when the Bulls gained their fourth victory with UB firmly in control in all three unfinished contests. Two of the matches were a game away from finishing in UB’s favor.

The Bulls will face host and third-seeded Toledo in Saturday’s semifinal at 2:00 pm at the UT Varsity Courts. Toledo defeated sixth-seeded Eastern Michigan, 4-2, on Friday afternoon. Saturday’s other semifinal match, slated for 10:00 am, will feature top-seeded Western Michigan against fourth-seeded Bowling Green. The semifinal winners will meet in the championship match on Sunday at 1:00 pm.

Buffalo 4, Ball State 0

Doubles

1 Andreea Novaceanu/Denise Harijanto (UB) d. Haly Calderwood/Sophie Quist (BSU), 8-2

2 Miglena Nenova/Natalie Dean (UB) led Jennifer Pollack/Christine Stromberg (BSU), 7-2 DNF

3 Katrin Fischer/Tina Jacob (UB) d. Emma Retter/Katherine Rist (BSU), 8-6

Singles

1 Miglena Nenova (UB) led Sophie Quist (BSU), 6-0, 5-0 DNF

2 Denise Harijanto (UB) d. Haly Calderwood (BSU), 6-2, 6-1

3 Andreea Novaceanu (UB) d. Jennifer Pollack (BSU), 6-2, 6-1

4 Natalie Dean (UB) d. Christine Stromberg (BSU), 6-1, 6-0

5 Smaranda Stan (UB) led Emma Retter (BSU), 6-0, 5-2 DNF

6 Katrin Fischer (UB) led Katherine Rist (BSU), 6-3, 2-1 DNF