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Bulls Score Semifinal Win Over Toledo, 4-1

Katrin Fischer

TOLEDO, OH – The University at Buffalo women’s tennis team moved into the Mid-American Conference Championship finals for the second straight year following their 4-1 win over Toledo in semifinal round action on Saturday afternoon.

The Bulls, seeded second in the tournament, collected their 17th win of the season to set a new school record for victories in a season. UB is now 17-2 after finishing 16-5 last year. UB faced Western Michigan in last season’s MAC Championship and set up a rematch with the Broncos after top-seeded WMU defeated fourth-seeded Bowling Green, 4-0, in Saturday’s first semifinal match. Third-seeded Toledo finishes the year at 16-6.

UB scored the opening doubles point by taking a 7-3 tiebreaker win as the number two doubles team of Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect) and Natalie Dean (Feilding, New Zealand/Palmerston North) defeated Toledo’s Martina Wodzinski and Maha Guirguis, 9-8. The UB duo led 7-2 before Toledo rallied to take the lead, 8-7. The Bulls withstood three match points by the Rockets before winning the 16th game to forge the 8-8 tie and set up the tiebreaker.

Denise Harijanto

UB also picked up an 8-0 win from first doubles tandem Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) and Denise Harijanto (Jakarta, Indonesia). UB’s third doubles team of Katrin Fischer (Ternitz, Austira/Borg) and Tina Jacob (Singapore/Raffles JC) had their five-match winning streak snapped with a 9-7 loss to Jenny Belsky and Sarah Horning.

The Bulls collected the necessary three singles wins with victories in the number two, three and six matches, all in straight sets.

Nenova, named to the All-MAC first team on Thursday, fell in her number one match to Toledo’s Myriam Cueva, 6-2, 6-1, but the Bulls had enough firepower to take the overall match.

Harijanto, UB’s solid freshman and an All-MAC second team selection, steamrolled Wodzinski, the league’s Freshman of the Year and an All-MAC second-teamer, 6-1, 6-0. Harijanto’s win was her 21st of the season, tying for the team lead in the category.

Andreea Novaceanu

Novaceanu, named to the All-MAC second team on Thursday, scored UB’s third point of the match as she disposed of Guirguis, 6-2, 6-4, in the number three contest.

Fischer clinched the win for the Bulls, in the number six slot. Fischer, named the league’s sportsmanship award winner, won her ninth-straight singles victory by scoring a 6-2, 6-2 win over Jessica Azoulay for UB’s fourth and final point.

Two matches were left unfinished when UB claimed the final point, both in their third sets. Dean, in the number four match, had a 3-0 lead on Zoubraeva, while Smaranda Stan (Stantu Gheorge, Romania/Economic) had just started her third set against Belsky, at number five, dropping the opening game of the set.

The women’s tennis squad is the first team in UB’s MAC history to make more than one appearance in a conference final and will meet Western Michigan (21-6) in the championship match for the second consecutive time. The match, to be played at Toledo’s Varsity Courts, will start at 1:00 pm. The winner receives an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.

Buffalo 4, Toledo 1

Doubles

1 Andreea Novaceanu/Denise Harijanto (UB) d. Myriam Cueva/Nadia Zoubareva (UT), 8-0

2 Miglena Nenova/Natalie Dean (UB) d. Martina Wodzinski/Maha Guirguis (UT), 9-8 (3)

3 Jenny Belsky/Sarah Horning (UT) d. Katrin Fischer/Tina Jacob (UB), 9-7

Singles

1 Myriam Cueva (UT) d. Miglena Nenova (UB), 6-2, 6-1

2 Denise Harijanto (UB) d. Martina Wodzinski (UT), 6-1, 6-0

3 Andreea Novaceanu (UB) d. Maha Guirguis (UT), 6-2, 6-4

4 Natalie Dean (UB) led Nadia Zoubareva (UT), 6-2, 3-6, 3-0 DNF

5 Jenny Belsky (UT) led Smaranda Stan (UB), 0-6, 6-2, 1-0 DNF

6 Katrin Fischer (UB) d. Jessica Azoulay (UT), 6-2, 6-2