Ball State
Bulls Drop Heartbreaker In MAC Semifinals
4/30/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
HAMILTON, OH – The University at Buffalo women's tennis team saw its season come to an end on Saturday morning as the Bulls dropped a 4-3 decision to top-ranked Ball State in the MAC Semifinals. With the loss, UB concludes the season with a 14-8 record, their highest win total since the 2013-14 season.
The Bulls got off to a good start as they claimed the doubles point, picking up a 6-4 win at third doubles from the freshmen duo of Chantal Martinez Blanco and Mercedes Losada Rubio and then winning at second doubles in a tiebreaker as Margarita Kotok and Tanja Stojanovska claimed a 7-6 (3) win, giving the Bulls an early 1-0 lead in the match.
In singles play, Ball State won at four to tie the match up at 1-1, but then UB got a win at first singles from Stojanovska, 6-1, 6-4 and a win at fifth singles from Laura Holterbosch, 6-4, 6-4 to take a 3-1 lead in the overall match.
However, with UB needing just one more victory to clinch the match, the Cardinals picked up a straight sets victory at two and then came back to win at third singles in three sets, tying the match up at 3-3 with sixth singles being the deciding match.
Freshman Sanjana Sudhir overcame a first set loss and won 6-1 in the second set to send the match into a third set, but the Cardinals came away with a 6-2 win in the third, giving Ball State the 4-3 victory and a spot in Sunday's Championship Match.
"A lot of credit goes to Ball State. They fought hard today and showed why they are the number one seed in the tournament," said head coach Kristen Maines. "We played outstanding doubles today, the best we have played all season, and that gave us momentum, but Ball State continued to fight. Tanja and Laura really stepped up today and I am proud of how well they competed. Tanja played some of her best tennis all year this weekend and Laura worked through some nerves, but moved past it and that comes along with experience. Our freshmen got put in some difficult spots, but they learned a lot and they will come back with more experience and a bigger desire to win."
The Bulls will return seven of their eight players next season.
Doubles competition
1. Audrey Berger/Peyton Gollhofer (BALL) def. Dayana Agasieva/Laura Holterbosch (UB) 6-0
2. Margarita Kotok/Tanja Stojanovska (UB) def. Carmen Blanco/Bethany Moore (BALL) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Mercedes Losada Rubio/Chantal Martinez Blanco (UB) def. Isabelle Dohanics/Toni Ormond (BALL) 6-4
Singles competition
1. Tanja Stojanovska (UB) def. Peyton Gollhofer (BALL) 6-1, 6-4
2. Carmen Blanco (BALL) def. Chantal Martinez Blanco (UB) 6-1, 6-3
3. Audrey Berger (BALL) def. Mercedes Losada Rubio (UB) 0-6, 6-0, 7-5
4. Toni Ormond (BALL) def. Margarita Kotok (UB) 6-1, 6-2
5. Laura Holterbosch (UB) def. Julia Sbircea (BALL) 6-4, 6-4
6. Isabelle Dohanics (BALL) def. Sanjana Sudhir (UB) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
