Tennis Returns to Morgantown
February 12, 2015 02:53 PM | General
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| Coach Lisac and the Mountaineers return to Morgantown for a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 13 against Youngstown State and Towson, and Sunday, Feb. 15 against California (Pa.) and Eastern Michigan. |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team returns home for a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 13, as the Mountaineers play host to Youngstown State at 12 p.m., and Towson at 4 p.m., at Ridgeview Racquet Club.
“It feels good to be playing at home. As a team, we are more comfortable on our home courts, and it will be nice to have a break from traveling for a little bit,” said second-year coach Miha Lisac. “With doubleheaders, it takes maturity and discipline to go out there and be ready to play, and that’s what we will be focusing on this weekend. We have to do the right things, at the right time.”
The Mountaineers (3-1) are coming off a pair of road wins in New York, defeating Buffalo, 5-2, and downing Niagara with a score of 6-1.
“We have two goals that we want to accomplish this weekend. One of them is to continue to play more sound in doubles action, and the next goal is to take advantage of opportunities,” Lisac explained. “We have to be focused and play aggressively in order to come out on top, and if we compete well enough, then we will find ourselves ahead in these types of matches.”
Senior Ikttesh Chahal and freshman Habiba Shaker lead the Mountaineers with a mark of 3-1 in singles play this season. Freshman Yvon Martinez and Shaker have teamed up in doubles to lead WVU with two wins, as the duo defeated Niagara and Buffalo on the road last weekend.
The Mountaineers are 2-2 all-time against Youngstown State. Earlier this season, WVU competed against the Penguins at the Pitt Nishan Vartabedian Invitational January 16 through 18. The Mountaineers totaled four victories in singles competition and swept YSU in doubles.
Youngstown State (5-3) has won three of its last four matches at home, and are coming off a 4-2 victory over NJIT on February 8. Marta Burak leads Youngstown State with a perfect 8-0 mark this season at the No. 2 spot. The duo of Dominika Lackova and Burak also lead the team in doubles with a record of 4-3.
WVU will meet Towson for the first time in head-to-head competition this spring. Towson (4-2) has won two of its last three matches, and are coming off a 9-0 win over Salisbury University on February 8.
Following the matches on Friday, the Mountaineers will host another doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 15, as WVU squares off against California (Pa.) at 9 a.m., and Eastern Michigan at 1 p.m., at Ridgeview Racquet Club.
“We have seen some of these teams before, but we have not seen Towson or Eastern Michigan yet. We played Youngstown State at the Pittsburgh tournament earlier this year, and we competed against Cal last season,” Lisac said. “All the teams coming in this weekend are solid teams, and we have to be ready to play hard in order to give ourselves an opportunity to be successful.”
A recap will be available following each day of competition at WVUsports.com.
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