Lakers top Huskies in Houghton 5-2
HOUGHTON, Mich. – No. 44 Michigan Tech swept doubles for the fourth time this season to seize early momentum but succumbed in singles, falling 5-2 to No. 20 Grand Valley State Thursday at Gates Tennis Center in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's tennis.
The Lakers (13-5, 6-0 GLIAC) stayed undefeated in conference play as the Huskies (7-6, 4-2) dropped their second straight with one match to play before the GLIAC Tournament.
"I thought we competed really well in doubles today," said head coach Kristin D'Agostini-Yep. "Credit to our opponent in singles. We just didn't do quite enough to win."
Left-hander Grace Eland (Penrith, England) effectively used a slicing wide serve on the ad side to help the Huskies grab a 3-0 lead at No. 1 doubles. Dominika Bobik (Wroclaw, Poland) added a pair of confident backhand winners up the line and served out the set 6-3 against the GVSU's No. 12 ranked doubles pair Vasileia Griva and Taylor Barrett.
Neva Manas (Carmel, Indiana) and Ewa Podulka (Trzebnica, Poland) were first to finish at No. 3 doubles while Lauren Opalewski (Oxford, Michigan) and Emily Cojocaru (Richmond Hill, Ontario) closed out a tight set on court two 6-4.
Bobik rarely lost a point en route to a 6-0 first-set win over Griva at No. 1 singles. Griva bounced back to take the second 6-3 as each player continued to battle from the baseline. Bobik broke serve on match point to win the final set 6-3, avenging a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Griva last spring.
"Dominika played great today in singles and doubles," D'Agostini-Yep said. "She's really playing with confidence right now."
The second set narrowed at No. 2 singles after Eland controlled play in the first for Tech. Barrett jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the tiebreaker culminating in a 7-3 score to even the match at a set apiece. Barrett outlasted Eland in the third with another 7-3 tiebreaker triumph.
Manas split sets with Rachel Sam at No. 3 but couldn't hold on to win the third. The Lakers closed out the match with straight sets wins at No. 5 and No. 6.
Michigan Tech is back in action Saturday for Senior Day at 10 a.m. against Ferris State. Grand Valley State closes the regular season at Lake Superior State. The top six teams in the conference standings qualify for the postseason.
SCORES
Doubles
- MTU (Dominika Bobik/Grace Eland) def. GVSU ([12] Vasileia Griva/Taylor Barrett) 6-3
- MTU (Lauren Opalewski/Emily Cojocaru) def. GVSU (Rachel Sam/Estefania Hernandez) 6-4
- MTU (Neva Manas/Ewa Podulka) def. GVSU (Leonie Leister/Sophia Hanover) 6-2
Order of finish: 3,1,2
Singles
- MTU (Dominika Bobik) def. GVSU (Vaileia Griva) 6-0, 3-6, 6-3
- GVSU (Taylor Barrett) def. MTU (Grace Eland) 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-7 (3)
- GVSU (Rachel Sam) def. MTU (Neva Manas) 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
- GVSU (Anna Soteras) def. MTU (Ewa Podulka) 7-5, 6-2
- GVSU (Estafania Hernandez) def. MTU (Emily Cojocaru) 6-4, 7-5
- GVSU (Ana Romero) 6-4, 6-4 def. MTU (Marina Fernandez) def.
Order of finish: 4,1,3,2,5,6
Time of the match: 4:28
