West Virginia Grabs Second Win of the Weekend

Saturday, February 16

Morgantown, W.Va.

1:00 P.M.

West Virginia University

Akron

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

February 16, 2019 06:07 PM | Tennis

Box Score

By: Tanner Cain

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Following a win over Cleveland State on Friday, the West Virginia University tennis team (4-1, 0-1 Big 12) defeated Akron, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon at the Summit Tennis Academy in Morgantown, to earn their second win of the home-opening weekend.

"Challenges like this are good, because like I said before, this will start to prepare us for what's going to happen in the Big 12 season," said head coach Miha Lisac. "Obviously, we are going to be challenged; we are going to have to play high-level tennis. We are going to be playing teams that will fight and play against us, as well. It's important we have challenges now"

Doubles Recap
Starting in the No. 3 slot, sophomore Anne-Sophie Courteau and senior Abigail Rosiello dominated Luisa Echeverry and Enya Forgaci and cruised to a 6-0 victory to begin doubles play.

The Mountaineers hit a roadblock in the No. 1 slot, as senior Paula Goetz and freshman Nicole Roc were bested by Rita Pedroso and Miruna Vasilescu, 6-4.

In the No. 2 slot, freshman Anastasiia Bovolskaia and junior Sofia Duran went toe-to-toe with Sophia Geier and Anna Uljanov to decide the doubles team point. The Mountaineer duo defeated Geier and Uljanov, 6-4, to claim WVU's first point of the day.

Singles Recap
Starting in the No. 2 slot, Duran set the tone for the Mountaineers in singles, as she cruised to a two-set victory, 6-1, 6-0, over Anna Uljanov.

Bovolskaia bagged her team-leading seventh win of the season in the No. 4 slot, as she defeated Luis Echeverry in two sets, 6-1, 6-4, to increase the Mountaineer lead to 3-0.

West Virginia dropped its first team point of the day in the No. 3 slot, as Roc was defeated by Miruna Vasilescu in two sets, 6-3, 6-4.

The fourth match to finish came from the No. 5 slot and would decide the match for the Mountaineers. Courteau grabbed WVU's fourth team point by defeating Carla Flores in two sets, 6-1, 6-3, to clinch the Mountaineers' fourth win of the season. The final two matches were played out.

Beginning at 2 p.m., the No. 1 slot featured a match-up between Goetz and Sophia Geier that would last just over two hours. Goetz won the first set, 6-4, but Geier bounced back in the second set to win, 6-2. In the third-set tiebreaker, the two battled back-and-forth until the third set was tied, 6-6. Goetz and Geier traded blow for blow in the super tiebreaker, but Goetz was defeated, 5-7.

In the final match of the day, sophomore Giovanna Caputo and Claudia Garcias squared off in the No. 6 slot. After winning the first set, 6-3, Caputo dropped the second set, 3-6. The Rio de Janeiro, native, was defeated in the third-set tiebreaker, 4-10.

Doubles Results

Rita Pedroso/Miruna Vasilecu (UA) def. Paula Goetz/Nicole Roc (WVU) 6-4
Sofia Duran/Anastasiia Bovolskaia (UA) def. Sophia Geier/Anna Uljanov (UA) 6-4
Anne-Sophie Courteau/Abigail Rosiello (WVU) def. Luisa Echevery/Enya Forgaci (UA) 6-0

Singles Results

Sophia Geier (UA) def. Paula Goetz (WVU) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
Sofia Duran (WVU) def. Anna Uljanov (UA) 6-1, 6-0
Miruna Vasilescu (UA) def. Nicole Roc (WVU) 6-3, 6-4
Anastasiia Bovolskaia (WVU) def. Luisa Echeverry (WVU) 6-1, 6-4
Anne-Sophie Courteau (WVU) def. Carla Flores (WVU) 6-1, 6-3
Claudia Garcias (UA) def. Giovanna Caputo (WVU) 3-6, 6-3, 10-4

Looking Ahead
The Mountaineers travel to upstate New York from Feb. 22-23 to square off against Niagara and Buffalo. WVU is scheduled to begin play at 1 p.m. ET each day from Williamsville, N.Y.

Keep up with West Virginia women's tennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by following @WVUtennis.