Tennis Tallies Two Victories at Home
February 20, 2015 09:41 PM | General
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| Sophomore Kaja Mrgole notched two victories earlier today at the No. 1 singles position. |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team notched two more victories as the team pushed its win streak to nine straight, defeating Wright State, 4-3, and UMBC, 7-0, on Friday afternoon at Ridgeview Racquet Club.
“I thought the afternoon was better. We kicked it into gear a little bit, and we finished off the day very well. We had a slow start in the morning, so it was good to see that we could overcome that in the afternoon session,” said second-year coach Miha Lisac.
The Mountaineers started off slow against Wright State, as the team dropped back-to-back doubles matches at the No. 1 and No. 3 slot. On court one, senior Ikttesh Chahal and sophomore Kaja Mrgole fell to WSU’s Karoline Haller and Linsey Verstrepen with a score of 6-3. At the No. 3 position, freshmen duo Lyn Yuen Choo and Yvon Martinez fell short to WSU’s Elaine Cloern and Aby Madrigal in a tiebreak (7-5). With wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 position, the Raiders seized an early one point advantage as the team entered singles competition.
Trailing the Raiders 1-0, the Mountaineers shifted the momentum as the team recorded three straight victories in singles play. Mrgole picked up the pace at the No. 1 singles slot, as she cruised past WSU’s Vanessa Madrigal in straight sets (6-1, 6-0) to tally the Mountaineers first match point of the day. At the No. 4 position, freshman Habiba Shaker carded a 6-2, 6-0 victory over WSU’s Tori Turner.
At the No. 5 slot, freshman Carolina Lewis made a comeback in a three-set battle, as she bested WSU’s Cloern with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Chahal fell to WSU’s Haller in straight sets (6-2, 7-6 (6)), giving the Raiders their second point of the day to make the overall team score 3-2.
Only needing one more point to win the match, Choo answered the call for the Mountaineers at the No. 2 position. Choo made quick work of her opponent, as she bested WSU’s Madrigal in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2. With the 4-3 win over the Raiders, the Mountaineers tallied their eighth straight win of the season.
To close out the day, WVU dominated UMBC for a 7-0 victory. The Mountaineers won the doubles point as Mrgole and Chahal rolled to a 6-2 victory at the No. 1 spot. Shaker and Lewis claimed the point with their own 6-3 triumph on court two.
In singles play, Lewis wasted no time as she rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 victory at the No. 5 slot. Martinez also made quick work of her opponent, as she defeated UMBC’s Hanna Victorsson with a score of 6-3, 6-3 to put WVU up 3-0. Chahal’s opponent retired in the second set to claim the victory for the Mountaineers.
With the match decided, Mrgole (6-2, 1-6, 6-1), Shaker (7-5, 6-1) and Choo (7-5, 3-6, 11-9) each picked up victories at the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 2 spots, respectively.
The Mountaineers are idle next week and won’t return to competition until Saturday, March 7, as the team squares off against Cornell at 2 p.m., and in-state foe Marshall on Sunday, March 8 at 9 a.m., at Ridgeview Racquet Club.
“This next week is going to give us the opportunity to revisit some of the things that we need to work on to continue to get better. We are going to dedicate a lot of time with individual players, and help them continue to take step forwards,” Lisac explained. “We have two more matches before the Big 12 season begins, and the focus remains the same with what we have been doing so far this season.”
West Virginia vs. Wright State
Doubles Competition:
No. 1: Karoline Haller/Linsey Verstrepen (WSU) def. Kaja Mrgole/Ikttesh Chahal (WVU), 6-3
No. 2: Habiba Shaker/Carolina Lewis (WVU) vs. Megan Brdicka/Vanessa Madrigal (WSU), UF
Singles Competition:
No. 1: Kaja Mrgole (WVU) def. Vanessa Madrigal (WSU), 6-1, 6-0
No. 2: Lyn Yuen Choo (WVU def. Aby Madrigal (WSU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 3: Karoline Haller (WSU) def. Ikttesh Chahal (WVU), 6-2, 7-6 (6)
No.4: Habiba Shaker (WVU) def. Tori Turner (WSU), 6-2, 6-0
No.5: Carolina Lewis (WVU) def. Elaine Cloern (WSU), 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
No. 6: Linsey Vestrepen (WSU) def. Yvon Martinez (WVU), 6-3, 7-5
Order of finish: Singles (1, 4, 5, 3, 2, 6); Doubles (1, 3, 2)
West Virginia vs. UMBC
Doubles Competition:
No. 1: Kaja Mrgole/Ikttesh Chahal (WVU) def. Shannon ClearlyMadlena Kurasz (UMBC), 6-2
No. 2: Habiba Shaker/Carolina Lewis (WVU) def. Hanna Victorsson/Charlotte Tonjann (UMBC), 6-3
No. 3: Lyn Yuen Choo/Yvon Martinez (WVU) vs. Laura Ambrozic/Alice Taylor (UMBC), UF
Singles Competition:
No. 1: Kaja Mrgole (WVU) def. Madlena Kurasz (UMBC), 6-2, 1-6, 6-1
No. 2: Lyn Yuen Choo (WVU) def. Mariami Dolashvili (UMBC), 7-5, 3-6, 11-9
No. 3: Ikttesh Chahal (WVU) def. Isabel Aldunate (UMBC), 6-2, 5-2 retired
No. 4: Habiba Shaker (WVU) def. Alice Taylor (UMBC), 7-5, 6-1
No. 5: Carolina Lewis (WVU) def. Laura Ambrozic (UMBC), 6-0, 6-1
No. 6: Yvon Martinez (WVU) def. Hanna Victorsson (UMBC), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: Singles (5, 6, 3, 1, 4, 2); Doubles (1, 2, 3)
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