Box Score Morgantown, W.Va. – Capturing its first-ever win over a Big 12 opponent, the West Virginia University women's tennis team used a strong showing in singles play to cruise past Iowa State, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon, at the Summit Tennis Academy, in Morgantown.
 
The Mountaineers captured the doubles point as well as three singles victories on the first three courts to power past the Cyclones (8-10, 0-3 Big 12), moving to 6-7 on the year and 1-2 in Big 12 play. With Saturday's win, WVU picked up its first league victory since joining the Big 12 Conference in 2012.
 
"First, it is a great step forward for the program and that means for every player, every staff member, and all of us that have been here," fifth-year coach Miha Lisac said. "It's a great testament to the way the girls came out today and really competed. We gave ourselves a lot of opportunities and the girls stayed in the fight."
 
WVU began doubles play by dropping the match on court one, as Christina Jordan and Sofía Duran fell to Maty Cancini and Regina Espindola, 6-3. However, Giovanna Caputo and Anne-Sophie Courteau won in a dramatic tiebreak, 7-6 (5), over Margarita Timakova and Ekaterina Repina on court three to even the doubles point at one apiece.
 
All eyes then turned to court No. 2, as Paula Goetz and Lyn Yuen Choo were trailing ISU's Annabella Bonnadonna and Erin Freeman early on. With the doubles point in their hands, Goetz and Choo rallied back to force a tie-breaking set. In the tiebreaker, the two teams battled back and forth, until the WVU tandem capitalized on a match point to win the tiebreaker, 10-8.
 
"At the end of doubles, that was a huge turning point for us, when we were able to win both of the tiebreaks," Lisac continued.  
 
On the third singles court, Choo continued WVU's fast start with a dominating, 6-1 and 6-0, performance over Freeman. The win marked Choo's first Big 12 singles win this season and gave the Mountaineers the 2-0 lead. 
 
Iowa State secured its first point of the day, as Duran fell to Repina in straight sets at No. 4, to cut the lead to 2-1. 
 
On court two, Courteau won the first set, 6-0, but fell in the second-set, 3-6. Despite being down early in the third-set, she powered her way to a 6-3 win to put WVU ahead of the Cyclones, 3-1.
 
Jordan then played hero for the Mountaineers, after battling to a three-set win over ISU's Cancini, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, to clinch the match for WVU. The match-clinching victory marked Jordan's second of the season.
 
WVU was winning on courts No. 5 and No. 6 when the matches were abandoned due to clinch rules.
 
Up next, the Mountaineers head to Huntington, West Virginia, to take on in-state rival Marshall on Saturday, March 31. The match is slated to begin at Noon and will take place at the Huntington Tennis Club.
 
Singles Competition:
No. 1: Christina Jordan (WVU) def. Maty Cancini (ISU) - 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
No. 2: Anne-Sophie Courteau (WVU) def. Regina Espindola (ISU) - 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
No. 3: Lyn Yuen Choo (WVU) def. Erin Freeman (ISU) - 6-1, 6-0
No. 4: Ekaterina Repina (ISU) def. Sofia Duran (WVU) - 6-4, 6-4
No. 5: Paula Goetz (WVU) vs. Margarita Timakova (ISU) - 6-1, 5-4, unfinished
No. 6: Giovanna Caputo (WVU) vs. Annabella Bonadonna (ISU) - 4-3, unfinished
 
Doubles competition:
No. 1: Maty/Regina (ISU) def. Jordan/Duran (WVU) - 6-3
No. 2: Goetz/Choo (WVU) def. Bonadonna/Freeman (ISU) - 7-6 (8)
No. 3: Caputo/Courteau (WVU) def. Timakova/Repina (ISU) - 7-6 (5)
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (3,4,2,1)
 
Keep up with West Virginia women's tennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by following @WVUtennis.