Tennis: Mountaineers Take Down Bearcats
February 28, 2010 07:20 PM | General
February 28, 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University tennis team (8-2, 4-0 BIG EAST) defeated the Bearcats today in a 5-2 match at the Western Athletic Club in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“Going 4-0 in the BIG EAST is huge for us,” says coach Marc Walters. “Now we can focus on our non-conference schedule to improve ourselves for the outdoor season and the conference tournament.”
WVU took the doubles point after winning two of the three doubles matches of the day. No. 2 pair sophomore Veronica Cardenas and freshman Emily Mathis defeated Cincinnati’s Ksenia Slynko and Elise Woulfe in an 8-6 match, while junior Ashley Pilsbury and freshman Liv Pettersson also won 8-6 over the Bearcats’ No. 3 pair Abby Mayo and Caitlin O’Gara.
The Mountaineers went 4-2 in the singles competition with a match-clinching 6-4, 7-6(8-6) win by sophomore Kathryn Haught against Woulfe in the No. 4 spot.
“Katie Haught had her strongest weekend as a Mountaineer, winning two tough matches that clinched the team wins for us,” adds Walters. “She is really thriving under pressure and it’s great to see her growing into that stopper role.”
Also contributing to the victory was redshirt junior Monique Burton in a 6-3, 6-2 match against Cincinnati’s No. 2 player Safiyya Ismail, along with wins in the No. 3 and 6 spots by Pilsbury in a 6-2, 6-0 match against Mayo and a third-set victory by Cardenas over the Bearcats’ Lindsey Lonergan.
“The confidence we are playing with is the difference in our team's success from last year to this year,” Walters admits. “We lost six out of seven matches last season that went 4-3 or 5-2, and this year we are already 5-0 in those same situations.”
The Mountaineers will continue play March 7, as they travel to Morehead, Ky., for a 9 a.m. match against the Eagles, followed by a 5 p.m. match against West Virginia State in Charleston, W.Va.
