Women's Tennis Splits Pair In South Carolina
The Northwood University women's tennis team opened the spring portion of its schedule by splitting a pair matches in South Carolina Monday afternoon (March 25). The Timberwolves dropped a tough 5-4 match to Division I Delaware State before earning a 5-4 win over Erskine.
Northwood now stands at 18-1 overall on the season.
The Timberwolves led 2-1 and 4-3 against Delaware State, but the Hornets bottom of the singles lineup earned the win. DSU earned wins at the bottom four singles positions to claim the match. NU dropped a pair of tight third-set super tiebreakers at the third and sixth positions. Susana Alcaraz and Ayana Kobayashi each went 2-0 in the match.
The Erskine match was very similar to the Delaware State contest. Northwood came out and won the top-two doubles matches to go up 2-1 heading into singles. Alcaraz and Kobayashi again won at the top two singles positions for the Timberwolves, but the Flying Fleet earned victories at the third, fourth and sixth flights. NU's Nikoletta Kaposzta made the difference for the Timberwolves, winning 6-1, 6-3 at No. 5 singles.
Delaware State 5, Northwood 4
Singles competition
1. Susana Alcaraz (NU) def. Maja Banas (DSU) 6-0, 6-1
2. Ayana Kobayashi (NU) def. Kristina Aleksic (DSU) 6-1, 6-3
3. Vanja Andonova (DSU) def. Nastya Puchkina (NU) 7-6, 3-6, 10-8
4. Ksenia Kozlova (DSU) def. Mariia Avksenko (NU) 6-3, 6-1
5. Marina Sicic (DSU) def. Inesa Asatryan (NU) 6-3, 6-2
6. Brittany Marshall (DSU) def. Nikoletta Kaposzta (NU) 3-6, 7-6, 14-12
Doubles competition
1. Susana Alcaraz/Nastya Puchkina (NU) def. Ksenia Kozlova/Maja Banas (DSU) 8-5
2. Ayana Kobayashi/Nikoletta Kaposzta (NU) def. Brittany Marshall/Vanja Andonova (DSU) 8-2
3. Marina Sicic/Kristina Aleksic (DSU) def. Inesa Asatryan/Margarita Asatryan (NU) 8-2
Northwood 5, Erskine 4
Singles competition
1. Susana Alcaraz (NU) def. Corin Hallman (ECW2013) 2-6, 6-1, 11-9
2. Ayana Kobayashi (NU) def. Miranda Guthrie (ECW2013) 6-4, 6-4
3. Abby O'Reilly (ECW2013) def. Nastya Puchkina (NU) 5-7, 6-4, 10-4
4. Mika Goyette (ECW2013) def. Inesa Asatryan (NU) 6-4, 7-5
5. Nikoletta Kaposzta (NU) def. Victoria Stephens (ECW2013) 6-1, 6-3
6. Sarah McDonald (ECW2013) def. Margarita Asatryan (NU) 3-6, 6-2, 10-6
Doubles competition
1. Susana Alcaraz/Nastya Puchkina (NU) def. Corin Hallman/Mika Goyette (ECW2013) 8-3
2. Ayana Kobayashi/Nikoletta Kaposzta (NU) def. Miranda Guthrie/Sarah McDonald (ECW2013) 8-6
3. Abby O'Reilly/Victoria Stephens (ECW2013) def. Inesa Asatryan/Margarita Asatryan (NU) 9-7