Ball State
Bulls Take Down MAC-Leading Ball State In Epic 4-3 Victory
4/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
WILLIAMSVILLE, NY – The University at Buffalo women's tennis team handed Ball State its first Mid-American Conference loss of the season as the Bulls came back for a 4-3 win on Sunday afternoon at the Miller Tennis Center. The victory snapped a 15-match winning streak for Ball State and it improved the Bulls to 11-6 and 3-2 in the MAC.
It was a marathon doubles point to get the afternoon started as doubles lasted over an hour. UB picked up the first victory as the first doubles team of Tanja Stojanovska and senior Dayana Agasieva picked up a 6-2 win. After falling at second doubles, the third doubles matches was a back-and-forth affair. UB had multiple chances to serve for the match, but the Cardinals fought off each one and went on to win 7-2 in a tiebreaker giving the Cardinals the 1-0 lead in the match.
Singles play was extremely competitive as four of the six matches went into three sets. Junior Laura Holterbosch won in straight sets 7-5, 6-2 to put the Bulls on the board. After Ball State won at six, freshman Mercedes Losada Rubio overcame a first set loss as she won at third singles, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, tying the match at 2-2. Stojanovska also overcame a first-set loss to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 at first singles putting the Bulls back ahead 3-2. Ball State won at second singles, which set up a final matchup at fifth singles between Sanjana Sudhir and Isabelle Dohanics.
Sudhir lost her first set 6-4 before coming back to win the second set 6-2. Sudhir then opened up a 4-2 lead in the third set and despite Ball State tying the set up at 5-5, Sudhir held her serve and then picked up the final break to win 7-5 and give UB to 4-3 win.
"I couldn't be more proud of this team as we battled back and showed toughness on an emotionally charged day," said head coach Kristen Maines. "We came back after starting off slow in singles against a really tough Ball State team and that just shows the character that this group has."
The Bulls are back in action on Friday afternoon when they will face Northern Illinois. The match will be played at 1:00 pm in Toledo, OH.
- Tanja Stojanovska/Dayana Agasieva (UB) def. Toni Ormond/Julia Sbircea (BSU), 6-2
- Audrey Berger/Peyton Gollhofer (BSU) def. Laura Holterbosch/Christine Haraldson (UB), 6-3
- Carmen Blanco/Bethany Moore (BSU) def. Chantal Martinez Blanco/Mercedes Losada Rubio (UB), 7-6 (2)
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
Singles:
- Tanja Stojanovska (UB) def. Carmen Blanco (BSU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
- Peyton Gollhofer (BSU) def. Chantal Martinez Blanco (UB), 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
- Mercedes Losada Rubio (UB) def. Toni Ormond (BSU), 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
- Laura Holterbosch (UB) def. Audrey Berger (BSU), 7-5, 6-2
- Sanjana Sudhir (UB) def. Isabelle Dohanics (BSU), 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
- Julia Sbircea (BSU) def. Christine Haraldson (UB), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 4,6,3,1,2,5
