Huskies Suffer Tough 4-2 Loss in GLIAC Semifinals to Northwood
MIDLAND, Mich. – The Michigan Tech women's tennis team fell in the semifinals of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Saturday 4-2 at the Greater Midland Tennis Center. The Huskies fell behind in doubles and were unable to recover despite some solid performances in the singles portion of the match.
"We had a great chance in this match today and we are disappointed with the loss, but our players gave a great effort against a very good Northwood team," Michigan Tech Head Coach Kevin Kalinec said. "We had a bit of a slow start in doubles, but our players responded really well in singles and nearly pulled out a win. We have to regroup and recover quickly to be ready to face a solid Grand Valley State team tomorrow morning in the third place match."
Sophomore Ivona Gorgioski and freshman Jessica Brown were paired up in No. 1 doubles against Tetyana Pavych and Carol Arnez-Mercado Saturday, but were unable to overcome the Timberwolves number one pairing falling by a final of 6-1. In No. 2 doubles, freshman Samantha Johnson and senior Vicky Quinde battled Elizaveta Velichko and Iryna Trystan, but came up short 6-2. The No. 3 doubles spot in the lineup was unfinished since Northwood (10-1) was able to claim the point with wins in the top two spots.
Gorgioski bounced back in No.1 singles to earn one of the two points for Michigan Tech (9-3) in the contest. Gorgioski was matched up with the GLIAC Player of the Year Pavych and powered past her by scores of 6-4, 6-4 to claim the win. Gorgioski hit some big shots to keep Pavych at bay and secure her 12th singles win of the year against one of the top players in the conference.
Junior Anabella Neri locked down the other point for the Huskies at the No. 6 spot of the lineup. Neri edged Anna Goncharova 7-5 in the first set and rolled to a 6-0 decision in the second to reach her 10th overall singles victory in 2018.
Unfortunately, the Timberwolves would win the match with three points in the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 singles spots in the lineup. Brown came up just short to Carol Arnez-Mercado 6-7, 6-1, 1-6 in No. 2 singles. Brown though was with her step for step for a good portion of the match, but the experience of Arnez-Mercado made the difference in the end.
Elizaveta Velichko got past Johnson 6-4, 6-1 in a hard fought contest in the No. 3 spot and Trystan edged Quinde 6-4, 6-2 in four singles. Freshman Mirna Golac competed hard against Vasilisa Mikhaylova in five singles and was close to a win, but the match went unfinished once the Timberwolves reached the four-point threshold.
The Huskies will look to bounce back Sunday morning when they meet up with Grand Valley State University in the third place match. The first serve is scheduled for 8:15 a.m.