Mountaineers Rebound to Beat Buffalo

Saturday, February 23

Williamsville, N.Y.

1:00 P.M.

West Virginia University

Buffalo

Photo by: Jennifer Shephard

February 23, 2019 06:40 PM | Tennis

Box Score

By: Tanner Cain

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Despite a rocky start in doubles play, the West Virginia University tennis team (6-1, 0-1 Big 12) used six singles wins to defeat Buffalo, 6-1, on Saturday afternoon at the Miller Tennis Center in Williamsville, New York.

"It was a good team win in singles today," said head coach Miha Lisac. "We competed hard and brought in six points over a solid team."

Doubles Recap
Starting in the No. 1 slot, senior Paula Goetz and sophomore Anne-Sophie Courteau paired up for the second day in a row to square off against Chantal Martinez Blanco and Nikoleta Antoniou-Karademitrou. The Mountaineer duo fell in the No. 1 slot, 2-6, to open doubles play.

In the No. 2 slot, junior Sofia Duran and freshman Anastasiia Bovolskaia dropped their match, 4-6, to Pia Schwarz and Arianna Paules Aldrey, as Buffalo claimed the doubles team point and led 1-0. The final doubles match was played out.

Freshman Nicole Roc and senior Abigail Rosiello started in the No. 3 slot against Hsin-Yuan Shih and Emel Abibula. Roc and Rosiello were defeated, 4-6, to conclude doubles play.

Singles Recap
After dropping the doubles team point, Duran grabbed a two-set victory, 6-0, 6-3, over Nikoleta Antoniou-Karademitrou in the No. 2 slot to tie the match score, 1-1.

Starting in the No. 1 slot, Goetz helped the Mountaineers take a 2-1 match lead by defeating Chantal Martinez Blanco in two sets, 6-1, 6-4.

Finishing shortly after from the No. 3 slot, Roc bested Pia Schwarz in two sets, 6-4, 6-4, to stretch WVU's lead to two.

West Virginia clinched the match in the No. 5 slot, as Courteau claimed another two-set victory for the Mountaineers by defeating Hsin-Yuan Shih, 6-3, 6-3. The final two matches were played out.

Making her first appearance in the No. 3 slot, Bovolskaia dropped the first set to Emel Abibula, 1-6, but bounced back to win the second set, 6-2, and force a third-set tiebreaker. Bovolskaia won the final set, 7-5, to capture the Mountaineers' fifth singles win of the day.

In the No. 6 slot, sophomore Giovanna Caputo fell in the first set, 3-6, to Sanjana Sudhir but won the second set, 6-4, to force a third-set, super tiebreaker. In the final set, Caputo defeated Sudhir, 10-7, to complete the sweep of singles play for WVU.

Doubles Results

Chantal Martinez Blanco/ Nikoleta Antoniou-Karademitrou (UB) def. Paula Goetz/Anne-Sophie Courteau (WVU) 6-2
Pia Schwarz/Arianna Paules Aldrey (UB) def. Sofia Duran/Anastasiia Bovolskaia (WVU) 6-4
Hsin-Yuan Shih/Emel Abibula (UB) def. Nicole Roc/Abigail Rosiello (WVU) 6-4

Singles Results

Paula Goetz (WVU) def. Chantal Martinez Blanco (UB) 6-1, 6-4
Sofia Duran (WVU) def. Nikoleta Antoniou-Karademitrou (UB) 6-0, 6-3
Anastasiia Bovolskaia (WVU) def. Emel Abibula (UB) 1-6, 6-2, 7-5
Nicole Roc (WVU) def. Pia Schwarz (UB) 6-4, 6-4
Anne-Sophie Courteau (WVU) def. Hsin-Yuan Shih (UB) 6-3, 6-3
Giovanna Caputo (WVU) def. Sanjana Sudhir (UB) 3-6, 6-4, 10-7

Looking Ahead
West Virginia next competes on Saturday, March 2, as it travels to Richmond, Virginia, to square off against VCU. The Mountaineers are scheduled to begin play at 10 a.m. ET.

Following their contest with VCU, WVU travels to Norfolk, Virginia, on Sunday, March 3, for a showdown against Old Dominion. West Virginia is scheduled to begin play at 10 a.m. ET.

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