Miami University
Akron
Miami Bounces Back With 5-2 Win Over Akron
4/1/2018 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Hear from Coach Rosas following today's 5-2 win over Akron pic.twitter.com/B91qYtVcUY
- Miami Tennis (@MiamiOH_Tennis) April 1, 2018
HAMILTON, Ohio - In a match that came down to the wire, the Miami University women's tennis team pulled out a 5-2 win over visiting University of Akron Sunday at Riverside Athletic Club. With the win, the RedHawks improve their conference record to 3-1 and now sit at 7-8 overall on the year.
Miami began the match by owning the doubles session, something that the `Hawks have now done in all conference matches thus far. As they have throughout most of the season, senior leaders Nelli Ponomareva and Anastasiia Vasiukhina set the tone by winning 6-2 on the first doubles court. Emily Struble and Melati Devi quickly followed up with an equally impressive 6-1 win to wrap up the doubles point. Freshmen Priyana Kalita and Milana Lysova left their match unfinished at 4-3 after the point was clinched.
Despite the RedHawks looking dominant during doubles, the day's singles matches proved that Miami would have to work to put away the Zips. Akron came back with two quick wins on courts five and six, but Ponomareva kept pace with a strong 6-4, 6-4 win at the top of the lineup. With the score now tied at two, the `Hawks needed to win two of the remaining three matches to reach the four points necessary to clinch.
They got halfway there shortly after, as Lysova earned a 7-5, 6-2 decision at court two. Meanwhile, Kalita and Struble found themselves in similar situations: both won their first set before dropping the second and were now in tight third sets. One of the two had to win, and Kalita delivered by grinding through a few tough games to win her match 6-4, 0-6, 6-4. Mere minutes later, Struble put the finishing touches on the strong Miami performance by coming back from a potential match point to win 6-0, 5-7, 7-6.
The match's full results can be found below.
The Red and White will look to stay near the top of the Mid-American Conference standings on Friday when they host Eastern Michigan. The match is scheduled to be played on campus at the Miami Tennis Courts, and will start at 1 p.m.
Doubles:
1. Ponomareva/Vasiukhina (Miami) def. Pedroso/Uljanov (Akron) 6-2
2. Kalita/Lysova (Miami) vs. Vasilescu/Echeverry (Akron) Unfinished
3. Struble/Devi (Miami) def. Wituski/Knezevich (Akron) 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 3
Singles:
1. Nelli Ponomareva (Miami) def. Miruna Vasilescu (Akron) 6-4, 6-4
2. Milana Lysova (Miami) def. Rita Pedroso (Akron) 7-5, 6-2
3. Emily Struble (Miami) def. Carli Knezevich (Akron) 6-0, 5-7, 7-6
4. Priyana Kalita (Miami) def. Luisa Echeverry (Akron) 6-4, 0-6, 6-4
5. Anna Uljanov (Akron) def. Lena Babunski (Miami) 6-4, 6-4
6. Carla Flores (Akron) def. Anastasiia Vasiukhina (Miami) 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 2, 4, 3
Players Mentioned
