Women's Tennis: WVU Downs Connecticut, 4-3
February 18, 2012 04:23 PM | General
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team defeated Connecticut on Saturday afternoon, 4-3, after senior Veronica Cardenas clinched the match with a dominating third set victory over the Huskies’ Lucy Nutting.
Cardenas took the first set from Nutting, 7-6 (7-3), in the tiebreak, but was defeated in the second set, also in the tiebreak.
“The Veronica that we saw today was completely different from the Veronica that we saw last year,” said coach Tina Samara. “She would have let that second set loss affect her last year. She fought against it and didn’t let it dwell on her. She made up for it in the third set with a quick win in dominating fashion.”
The Mountaineers started the match with crucial doubles victories from junior Emily Mathis and sophomore Mary Chupa along with senior Veronica Cardenas and freshman Ikttesh Chahal that earned them the doubles point.
“We started out a little bit slow in both doubles matches,” Samara said. “We found ourselves behind early in both matches, but we showed great fight and hustle in order to get the doubles point that is crucial when we are playing with just five players.”
In singles play, WVU continued to carry the momentum with wins by Mathis and Chupa that gave them a 3-1 lead.
The Huskies answered back, however, with a 6-1, 6-4 win by Jennifer Learmonth at the No. 3 spot and a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win by Abby McKeon in the No. 5 spot.
With the match tied at three, the Mountaineers’ hopes rested in the hands of Cardenas, who came through with the match-clinching point.
“Connecticut is a good team, but this match said a lot about our team’s character,” Samara said. “The last two matches we have had have proven to our girls that it is doable to win under the circumstances we are playing with. Now, we just need to continue our momentum into tomorrow morning with our match against Marquette.”
WVU (2-5, 1-1 BIG EAST) will return to the court tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., as they will take on the Golden Eagles to finish out their two-match road trip.
A full recap will be available on MSNsportsNET.com after the completion of competition.
Results
Singles
No. 1: Emily Mathis (WVU) def. Alexa Gregory (UCONN), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2: Mary Chupa (WVU) def. Maxene Weingberg (UCONN), 7-5, 6-2
No. 3: Jennifer Learmonth (UCONN) def. Ikttesh Chahal (WVU). 6-1, 6-4
No. 4: Veronica Cardenas (WVU) def. Lucy Nutting (UCONN), 7-6 (7-3), 6-7(2), 6-1
No. 5: Abby McKeon (UCONN) def. Catie Wickline (WVU), 3-6, 6-3, 3-6
No. 6: UCONN def. WVU, default
Doubles
No. 1: Mathis/Chupa (WVU) def. Learmonth/Weinberg (UCONN), 8-6
No. 2: Cardenas/Chahal (WVU) def. Gregory/Nutting (UCONN), 8-5
No. 3: UCONN def. WVU, default
Cardenas took the first set from Nutting, 7-6 (7-3), in the tiebreak, but was defeated in the second set, also in the tiebreak.
“The Veronica that we saw today was completely different from the Veronica that we saw last year,” said coach Tina Samara. “She would have let that second set loss affect her last year. She fought against it and didn’t let it dwell on her. She made up for it in the third set with a quick win in dominating fashion.”
The Mountaineers started the match with crucial doubles victories from junior Emily Mathis and sophomore Mary Chupa along with senior Veronica Cardenas and freshman Ikttesh Chahal that earned them the doubles point.
“We started out a little bit slow in both doubles matches,” Samara said. “We found ourselves behind early in both matches, but we showed great fight and hustle in order to get the doubles point that is crucial when we are playing with just five players.”
In singles play, WVU continued to carry the momentum with wins by Mathis and Chupa that gave them a 3-1 lead.
The Huskies answered back, however, with a 6-1, 6-4 win by Jennifer Learmonth at the No. 3 spot and a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win by Abby McKeon in the No. 5 spot.
With the match tied at three, the Mountaineers’ hopes rested in the hands of Cardenas, who came through with the match-clinching point.
“Connecticut is a good team, but this match said a lot about our team’s character,” Samara said. “The last two matches we have had have proven to our girls that it is doable to win under the circumstances we are playing with. Now, we just need to continue our momentum into tomorrow morning with our match against Marquette.”
WVU (2-5, 1-1 BIG EAST) will return to the court tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., as they will take on the Golden Eagles to finish out their two-match road trip.
A full recap will be available on MSNsportsNET.com after the completion of competition.
Results
Singles
No. 1: Emily Mathis (WVU) def. Alexa Gregory (UCONN), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2: Mary Chupa (WVU) def. Maxene Weingberg (UCONN), 7-5, 6-2
No. 3: Jennifer Learmonth (UCONN) def. Ikttesh Chahal (WVU). 6-1, 6-4
No. 4: Veronica Cardenas (WVU) def. Lucy Nutting (UCONN), 7-6 (7-3), 6-7(2), 6-1
No. 5: Abby McKeon (UCONN) def. Catie Wickline (WVU), 3-6, 6-3, 3-6
No. 6: UCONN def. WVU, default
Doubles
No. 1: Mathis/Chupa (WVU) def. Learmonth/Weinberg (UCONN), 8-6
No. 2: Cardenas/Chahal (WVU) def. Gregory/Nutting (UCONN), 8-5
No. 3: UCONN def. WVU, default
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