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Women's Tennis Quest For MAC Championship Falls Short

Katrin Fischer

TOLEDO, OH – The University at Buffalo women’s tennis team’s fight for the school’s first Mid-American Conference championship title came up just short on Sunday afternoon. The second-seeded Bulls fell to top-seeded Western Michigan, 4-1, in a rematch of last season’s conference final. The match was played at the University of Toledo’s Varsity Courts. UB ends its season with a 17-3 record, the most wins in school history. Western Michigan is now 22-6 and claims the MAC’s automatic bid to May’s NCAA Championships.

The Bulls fell behind early as Western Michigan took the doubles point with wins in the number two and three matches. In the number two match, Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect) and Natalie Dean (Feilding, New Zealand/Palmerston North) fell to Kerstin Pahl and Priyanka Parekh, 8-3. The number three team of Katrin Fischer (Ternitz, Austria/Borg) and Tina Jacob (Singapore/Raffles JC) dropped an 8-2 decision to Carrie Jeanmaire and Emily Dudzik. The number one match was left unfinished with UB’s Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) and Denise Harijanto (Jakarta, Indonesia) trailing Noriko Saruta and Ashley Moccia 5-3 when the Broncos took the doubles point.

UB’s lone singles win came in the number six match as Fischer defeated Dudzik in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. Fischer’s win was her 10th straight singles triumph. Fischer knocked off Dudzik, 6-3, 6-3 in their regular season meeting when the teams met in Buffalo on March 31.

Western Michigan won the match with victories in the top three singles matches, all in straight sets, although UB put up a considerable fight.

Nenova dropped a 6-1, 7-5 decision to Jeanmaire, named the tournament MVP following the match, in the number one contest. The match was tied 5-5 in the second set before Jeanmaire took the final two games for the victory. Harijanto was defeated by Pahl, 6-3, 6-4, in the number two match and Novaceanu fell in the number three match to Parekh, 6-3.

Natalie Dean

Two matches were left unfinished with UB in control of both contests. Dean won her opening set, 7-5, over Saruta, before dropping the second set, 6-4. The third set did not start by the time the Broncos claimed the winning point. In the number five match, Smaranda Stan (Stantu Gheorge, Romania/Economic) breezed in her opening set over Moccia, 6-1, but trailed 5-3 in the second set when play was stopped with the match apparently also headed to a third set.

UB’s Dean and Fischer were named to the MAC’s All-Tournament team following the conclusion on Sunday’s final. Dean was 1-0 in singles with two matches unfinished and 2-1 in doubles play in the tournament while Fischer was 2-0 in singles play and it was her win over Toledo’s Jessica Azoulay in Saturday’s semifinal contest that put the Bulls in the championship final. Fischer finishes her senior season with a 19-4 singles record. Saruta and Parekh represented the Broncos on the All-Tournament squad along with Tournament MVP Jeanmaire. Bowling Green’s Ashley Jakupcin and Toledo’s Maha Guirguis were also named to the All-Tournament squad.

Western Michigan 4, Buffalo 1

Doubles

1 Noriko Saruta/Ashley Moccia (WMU) led Andreea Novaceanu/Denise Harijanto (UB), 5-3 DNF

2 Kerstin Pahl/Priyanka Parekh (WMU) d. Miglena Nenova/Natalie Dean (UB), 8-3

3 Carrie Jeanmaire/Emily Dudzik (WMU) d. Katrin Fischer/Tina Jacob (UB), 8-2

Singles

1 Carrie Jeanmaire (WMU) d. Miglena Nenova (UB), 6-1, 7-5

2 Kerstin Pahl (WMU) d. Denise Harijanto (UB), 6-3, 6-4

3 Priyanka Parekh (WMU) d. Andreea Novaceanu (UB), 6-3, 6-3

4 Natalie Dean (UB) tied with Noriko Saruta (WMU), 7-5, 4-6 DNF

5 Smaranda Stan (UB) led Ashley Moccia (WMU), 6-1, 3-5 DNF

6 Katrin Fischer (UB) d. Emily Dudzik (WMU), 6-2, 6-2

All-MAC Tournament Team

Ashley Jakupcin, Bowling Green

Maha Guirguis, Toledo

Natalie Dean, UB

Katrin Fischer, UB

Noriko Saruta, Western Michigan

Priyanka Parekh, Western Michigan

Tournament MVP: Carrie Jeanmaire, Western Michigan