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West Virginia Drops Match vs. Iowa State
March 26, 2016 03:01 PM | Tennis
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team fell to Big 12 foe Iowa State by a score of 4-2, today, inside Ridgeview Racquet Club, in Morgantown.
“We know what to expect with Iowa State,” said third-year coach Miha Lisac. “It was a close battle, and it’s always going to be a close battle with Iowa State. We have to be a little bit more disciplined. Unfortunately, we are still dealing with the same issues as before, and that is something that we are going to continue to work on.”
The Mountaineers (6-8, 0-3 Big 12) put themselves in a familiar situation this week, as the team dropped two doubles matches on court one and court two, respectively, to surrender the doubles point to the Cyclones (13-4, 1-2 Big 12).
On court one, sophomore Carolina Lewis and freshman Paula Goetz fell to ISU’s Samantha Budai and Liza Buss by a score of 6-1. However, junior Kaja Mrgole and sophomore Lyn Yuen Choo made quick work of ISU’s Regina Espindola and Ana Gasparovic to claim the victory (6-2) on court three and tie the doubles point at one-all. With the win, Mrgole and Choo tallied their fifth consecutive victory at the No. 3 slot this season.
At the No. 2 position, the sophomore duo of Yvon Martinez and Habiba Shaker stumbled against ISU’s Alejandra Galvis and Anabela Bonadonna in a 7-5 tiebreaker to give the Cyclones the one-point advantage.
“Doubles was not where we wanted it to be today,” Lisac explained. “Obviously, that was another huge point that we gave away. We missed out today. However, we had performances that we were very pleased with in singles play. Overall, it is still not where it needs to be.”
Trailing Iowa State 1-0, Shaker cruised past ISU’s Budai in straight sets (6-0, 6-4) at the No. 1 slot to tie the match at one-all. With the win, Shaker tallied her first victory at the No. 1 slot and recorded a team-best 11 singles victories this season. Choo also tallied a 6-2, 6-3 victory over ISU’s Espindola on court four to give the Mountaineers a 2-1 advantage over the Cyclones.
On court three, Goetz fell in straight sets to ISU’s Galvis (6-2, 7-6) to tie the match at two apiece.
At No. 2 singles, Lewis dropped a three-set battle to ISU’s Buss. Lewis fell in the first set, but prevailed in the second. Lewis fought back in the third set, but could not overcome Buss’ style of play to give the Cyclones a 3-2 lead.
Iowa State claimed the match on court five, as Mrgole fell in straight sets to ISU’s Bonadonna (6-2, 6-4).
With the match point decided, Martinez’s match was halted on court six.
“This week will be a good week for us to take a step back and work on the basics,” Lisac noted. “We need time to reinforce some of the things that we usually work on during the offseason. We have this weekend off, so it is going to be a little bit different this week, and we will use this time to prepare for Kansas and Kansas State.”
The Mountaineers are idle from competition next week and will return to the courts on Friday, April 8, as the team plays host to Big 12 foe Kansas. The match is set to begin at 3 p.m., at the Mountaineer Tennis Courts.
Doubles Competition:
No. 1: Samantha Budai/Liza Buss (ISU) def. Carolina Lewis/Paula Goetz (WVU), 6-1
No. 2: Alejandra Galvis/Anabella Bonadonna (ISU) def. Yvon Martinez/Habiba Shaker (WVU), 7-5
No. 3: Kaja Mrgole/Lyn Yuen Choo (WVU) def. Regina Espindola/Ana Gasparovic (ISU), 6-2
Singles Competition:
No. 1: Habiba Shaker (WVU) def. Samantha Budai (ISU), 6-0, 6-4
No. 2: Liza Buss (ISU) def. Carolina Lewis (WVU), 6-0, 3-6, 7-5
No. 3: Alejandra Galvis (ISU) def. Paula Goetz (WVU), 6-2, 7-6
No. 4: Lyn Yuen Choo (WVU) def. Regina Espindola (ISU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5: Anabella Bonadonna (ISU) def. Kaja Mrgole (WVU), 6-2, 6-4
No. 6: Yvon Martinez (WVU) vs. Ana Gasparovic (ISU), 7-5, 2-1 unfinished
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (1, 4, 3, 2, 5)
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