Miami University
Buffalo
RedHawks Fall in MAC Championship Finals
4/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Box Score
MUNCIE, Ind. - Miami University's women's tennis team dropped a heart breaker to Buffalo in the championship round of the Mid-American Conference Championships to No. 3 Buffalo, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon after a strong performance over the weekend.
The RedHawks put together a rally late in the match with courts one and two going to a third set before the Bulls ultimately clinched the title.
Once again, the match started off slow after the RedHawks were unable to clinch the doubles point, falling at first and second position. Junior Nelli Ponomareva and sophomore Anzhelika Shapovalova dropped a close match to Tanja Stojanovska and Margarita Kotok, 6-4. The duo of juniors Hannah Shteyn and Anastasiia Vasiukhina were also unable to secure their match against Anna Savchenko and Chantal Martinez Blanco, falling 6-2.
The Bulls tallied their second point of the match after senior Andreea Badileanu was dropped in her match to Emel Abibula, (6-3, 6-0). Shteyn put the Miami on the board with a win over Savchenko in straight sets (6-2, 6-3). Buffalo went back up two after Vasiukhina fell in her match against Sanjana Sudhir (6-4, 6-1). Sophomore Emily Struble closed the gap to 3-2, downing Mercedes Losada Rubio after battling it out in a first-set tiebreaker (7-6 (7-4), 6-2). Struble concluded her season undefeated in singles matches at fourth position.
Meanwhile, courts 1 and 2 pushed their matches into third sets, keeping championship hopes alive. Shapovalova rallied in her second set to keep Miami in the game at second position. Ponomareva powered through a tiebreaker at first position to keep the RedHawks alive, (6-2, 7-6 (4-7)). She fell behind in the third set and was unable to recover, ultimately dropping the third set by a 6-3 count.
After the match, Shteyn and Shapovalova were named to the All-MAC Tournament team. This is the first time Shapovalova has received the honor and the second time Shteyn has been named in her career.
Miami finishes the dual season with a 12-12 record after making its eighth MAC Tournament finals appearance in the last nine seasons.
Players Mentioned
