Tennis: WVU Hosts Two Matches
January 28, 2010 11:57 AM | General
By Tiffany Doolittle for MSNsportsNET.com
January 28, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University tennis team is set to play host to Liberty on Friday, Jan. 29, at 5 p.m., followed by James Madison at 11 a.m., on Sunday, Jan. 31, at the Greenbrier Hotel and Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
The Mountaineers are 1-0 after winning, 5-1, to Youngstown last Saturday, Jan. 23, at the Ridgeview Racquet Club.
Senior Stephanie LaFortune and redshirt junior Monique Burton won thier doubles match, 8-2, against YSU’s Tanisha Welch and Anna Volkova, while sophomore Veronica Cardenas and freshman Emily Mathis defeated Nicole Haralambopoulos and Margarita Sadovnikova, 8-4.
Junior Ashley Pilsbury started the off the singles competition on the right note with a 6-0, 6-0, win over YSU's No. 5 player, Hannah Patten. Cardenas, Burton and Mathis also captured wins in the singles competition in the No. 2, 3 and 4 spots to give WVU the victory.
"Although I liked the performance of all the girls last weekend, Monique and Emily really impressed me with noticeable improvements that they made with each practice," says coach Marc Walters. "As a team overall, we need to be more aggressive at the net during doubles, which I think will come to us as we get used to our partners."
Liberty holds a 1-1 record after defeating Morgan State, 6-1, in their first match of the season on Jan. 20, then falling, 7-0, to No. 52 Old Dominion on Jan. 24.
The Dukes (0-1) opened their season Jan. 15, at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center in Williamsburg, Va., where they fell 7-0 to No. 47 William and Mary.
"Everyone has a match under their belts now and we seem to have even squads. JMU has improved since we saw them last year and Liberty is an experienced team with solid leadership," says Walters. "I see it as an even competition this weekend with no home court advantage for anyone. I expect a lot of three set matches--which the tough physical training we've been doing should help us out in that."
