Huskies Fall at Northwood
MIDLAND, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's tennis team suffered the first loss of the 2018-19 season Sunday, falling 7-0 at Northwood in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. The Huskies opened the weekend with a 6-1 victory at Saginaw Valley State on Saturday.
"We are disappointed with the loss today, but I'm very proud of the effort of our players," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. "Northwood is a very good and experienced team and that made the difference in the match. We learned a lot about ourselves today that will make us a better as a team moving forward. We'll work on some things in practice this week to get ready for two more big matches next weekend. There were a lot of positives from this past weekend and we are excited to get back on the court at home Saturday."
Michigan Tech (4-1, 3-1 GLIAC0 struggled in doubles to start Sunday's match at Northwood (4-0, 4-0 GLIAC). Tetyana Pavych along with Carol Arnz-Mercado were able to get past sophomore Ivona Gorgioski and freshman Jessica Brown in No. 1 doubles 6-3 after the contest went back and forth early. The No. 3 doubles contest wrapped up next as the Timberwolves secured the doubles point in the overall match. Senior Allenca Rolim and junior Anabella Neri battled the team of Elizaveta Velichko and Vasilisa Mikhaylova, but came up short 6-2.
The No. 2 doubles win also went to Northwood by the final of 6-3. In a contest that went back and forth, freshman Samantha Johnson along with senior Vicky Quinde were unable to outlast Kate Berestovenko and Iryna Trystan of the Timberwolves.
There were some tightly contested singles matches Sunday, but unfortunately the final outcomes were all in Northwood's favor. The No. 3 singles spot in the lineup, which featured Johnson taking on Berestovenko, was the first to finish up. After a close first set that went Berestovenko's way 6-3, she was able to sweep the second set against Johnson 6-0.
Neri faced Mikhaylova in No. 6 singles Sunday, with scores of 6-0, 6-2 going onto the final scorecard. The Timberwolves were able to get the match clinching point in No. 1 singles by way of a 6-1, 6-2 win over Gorgioski. Freshman Mirna Golac took Iryna Trystan down to the wire in the first set of No. 5 singles before falling 7-6. Trystan then earned the point in the second set with a 6-2 decision.
Brown had a solid match against Arnez-Mercado in No. 2 singles, narrowly falling in the first set 7-6 before rallying with an outstanding second set win of 6-3. The two players went point for point in the third set, but Arnez-Mercado held on for a 10-8 win in the third set. The final singles match to finish up was the No. 4 spot in the lineup. Quinde went toe to toe with Velichko in set one, but narrowly lost 7-6. The second set went to Velicho by a final score of 6-1.
The Huskies will be back on the court next weekend when they host Ferris State on Saturday at 10 a.m. before battling Grand Valley State on Sunday at 10 a.m.