April 3, 2009
Box Score
HAMILTON, Ohio -- Miami earned a hard-fought doubles point, then took five out of six singles matches Friday to earn its fourth straight win, 6-1 over Buffalo. The win moved the RedHawks into a first-place tie in the Mid-American Conference and broke the Bulls' nine-match winning streak.
Miami (8-6, 3-0) took the first point of the afternoon by winning two out of three double matches. The RedHawks started strong, opening 5-2, 5-2 and 4-0 leads. However, the Bulls made things close before Miami came through. Anastasia Dracheva and Monica Gorny won their first four games before dropping a pair, before rattling off four more in an 8-2 win at No. 2 doubles. Riekie Honiball and Brintney Larson went up 5-2 before losing the next two games, but won the next two enroute to an 8-5 victory at No. 3. That win secured a 1-0 Miami lead, despite the fact that Buffalo rallied from a 5-4 deficit for a 9-7 win over Stephanie Danesis and Megan Martzolf at No.l.
The singles matches were not as close. Danesis, who had missed the last two matches with a wrist injury, shook off the doubles defeat for an easy 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 4, while Honiball quickly followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6 that pushed the lead to 3-0. Gorny clinched the match for Miami with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Denise Harijanto, who entered play with an 18-3 record this year.
After Buffalo took the No. 3 match, Larson and Dracheva earned the final points with 6-2, 6-4 and 7-5, 6-2 victories, respectively.
"We definitely played better than we have in our previous two matches," Head Coach Howard Joffe said. "It was good to have a very competitive match. The 6-1 score doesn't tell the tale."
Miami returns to action tomorrow for another Mid-American Conference match. The RedHawks host Akron at 1 p.m. on campus at the Withrow Courts.
Buffalo at Miami (Ohio)
April 3, 2009 at Riverside Athletic Club (Hamilton, Ohio)
No. 2 Doubles
Monica Gorny/Anastasia Dracheva (MIAMI) def. Aleksandra Petrova/Diana Toia (BUFFALO) 8-2
No. 3 Doubles
Brintney Larson/Riekie Honiball (MIAMI) def. Smaranda Stan/Anna Subenkova (BUFFALO) 8-5
No. 1 Doubles
Denise Harijanto/Diana Popescu (BUFFALO) def. Megan Martzolf/Stephanie Danesis (MIAMI) 9-7
No. 4 Singles
Stephanie Danesis (MIAMI) def. Diana Toia (BUFFALO) 6-0, 6-2
No. 6 Singles
Riekie Honiball (MIAMI) def. Anna Subenkova (BUFFALO) 6-2, 6-3
No. 1 Singles
Monica Gorny (MIAMI) def. Denise Harijanto (BUFFALO) 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Singles
Smaranda Stan (BUFFALO) def. Megan Martzolf (MIAMI) 6-2, 7-6 (7-1)
No. 5 Singles
Brintney Larson (MIAMI) def. Aleksandra Petrova (BUFFALO) 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 Singles
Anastasia Dracheva (MIAMI) def. Diana Popescu (BUFFALO) 7-5, 6-2
