Women's Tennis Weekly Release

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Bulls Post Best Doubles Results Ever at ITAs

Diana Popescu

The University at Buffalo women’s tennis team posted one of the best finishes at the ITA Regional Championsips in the history of program. The Bulls’ doubles tandem of Denise Harijanto (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Diana Popescu (Alexandria, Romania/AL. I. Cuza) reached the final four for the first time after claiming four wins. In singles play, Harijanto and Smaranda Stan (Stantu Gheorge, Romania/Economic) each won a pair of qualifying round matches to advance into the main singles draw. In the main draw, both players picked up wins before bowing out.

Harijanto Impressive in Both Singles and Doubles Action

Denise Harijanto

Junior Denise Harijanto had success in both singles and doubles play at the ITA Regionals. In singles competition, she was placed in the qualifying bracket where she had to win two matches to earn a spot in the main draw. Harijanto knocked off Boston College’s Alina Sullivan and Richmond’s Joanna Matuszczyk in straight sets to reach the opening round. In the main draw, she disposed of Fairleigh Dickinson’s Julia Prantl and Boston University’s Francine Whu in straight sets, reaching the third round where she fell to eventual semifinalist Jennifer Stevens of Virginia in a tough 6-4, 6-4 battle. Harijanto matched last season’s singles success of Andreea Novaceanu, who also advanced into the third round of the 2007 tournament.

In doubles, Harijanto and Diana Popescu made it to the semifinals, a plateau that no UB doubles team had ever reached before. In their four wins on the way to the semifinals, Harijanto and Popescu defeated three seeded opponents, including the number four and five tandems from Ivy League powers Penn and Brown.

Stan Rolls Into Singles Draw

Smaranda Stan

Senior Smaranda Stan also had an impressive run at the tournament. Stan made the most of her inclusion in the qualifying rounds with a pair of victories as the top seed among the 32 players fighting for the final eight spots in the main draw. Stan rolled past Maryland’s Oksana Krutiyenko in her first match and then allowed just one game against Dartmouth’s Ryan Reichel (6-1, 6-0) to win a spot in the main draw. From there, Stan downed St. Bonaventure’s Manuela Marin-Salcedo in a grueling 7-5, 7-5 decision to advance into the second round where she was defeated by another Maryland entry.

Positive Marks in the Ledger

With her 4-1 records in both the singles and doubles competitions, Denise Harijanto has taken over the team lead with seven singles victories this season. Harijanto had won seven straight singles contests this season before her ITA run ended in the third round. She went 3-0 in claiming a flight title at the Fall MAC Invitational at Western Michigan. She is also 5-2 in doubles play and is tied for the team lead with Diana Popescu with five doubles triumphs. Smaranda Stan is second on the team with six singles wins after her three successful conquests at the ITA meet.