Bowling Green State University Athletics
Sunday Tennis Roundup
April 26, 2009 | Women's Tennis
April 26, 2009
PERRYSBURG, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Top-seeded Miami University, after going undefeated in Mid-American Conference regular-season play, downed third-seeded Western Michigan University to earn the title at the 2009 MAC Women's Tennis Championships. The RedHawks posted a 4-0 victory over the Broncos Sunday afternoon (April 26) at the Perrysburg Tennis Center.
With the win, Miami improves to 16-6 in dual-match play this season. More importantly, the RedHawks will represent the MAC in the NCAA Championships. Western Michigan falls to 21-8 in dual matches in 2008-09.
The RedHawks earn their first-ever NCAA bid. MU will find out its NCAA Regional site on Tuesday (April 28), when the bracket is unveiled on ESPNews.
For the third day in a row, the 'Hawks won the doubles point with relative ease. In all three of Miami's MAC Championships matches, the team picked up a pair of doubles wins, and the third team was less than a game away from victory when the match was abandoned.
On Sunday, the RedHawks' top-flight team of Stephanie Danesis and Megan Martzolf picked up an 8-4 win over Western's Emily Dudzik and Yumi Matsuto. Both Danesis and Martzolf would be named to the MAC's All-Tournament Team at the end of the day.
At the third doubles flight, MU's Brintney Larson and Riekie Honiball lost only two games, winning the final four games en route to an 8-2 win over Jenny Nalepa and Ashley Moccia.
Miami's second-flight tandem of Monica Gorny and Anastasia Dracheva held a 7-3 lead over Kerstin Pahl and Amanda Moccia when that match was halted. It marked the second time in three days that the Gorny/Dracheva team held a 7-3 lead, only to see their match abandoned.
In singles action, the RedHawks won the opening set on four of the six courts, with three of those four matches resulting in straight-sets wins for the Red and White. The first match to finish was the fourth-flight contest, where Martzolf downed Maria Nivia, 6-2, in the opening set, then captured four-straight games for a 6-1 win in the second set. Moments later, Dracheva closed out a 6-3, 6-0 win over Dudzik at the second flight. Dracheva won nine-straight game after the opening set was tied, 3-3.
In a matchup of All-MAC First-Team selections, Gorny picked up a 6-1 win over Pahl in the opening set, then outlasted the winningest player in WMU history, 6-4, in the second set, giving the RedHawks the win.
Despite the 4-0 final score, the Broncos actually were faring rather well in each of the other three matches. At the third flight, Ashley Moccia had downed Danesis, 7-5, in the opening set, with Danesis holding a 4-2 lead in the second set of that unfinished match.
Larson had downed Amanda Moccia, 6-2, in the first set of their fifth-flight match, but Moccia had responded by taking a 5-3 lead in the second set. The sixth-flight match was dead even, as Honiball and Matsuto were tied, 2-2, in the third set of their match.
In addition to MU's Danesis and Martzolf, the MAC All-Tournament Team consisted of Western Michigan's Pahl and Ashley Moccia, Buffalo's Diana Popescu and Toledo's Martina Wodzinski.
MAC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
(alphabetical order by last name)
* Stephanie Danesis, Miami
* Megan Martzolf, Miami
* Ashley Moccia, Western Michigan
* Kerstin Pahl, Western Michigan
* Diana Popescu, Buffalo
* Martina Wodzinski, Toledo
MIAMI 4, WESTERN MICHIGAN 0
Sunday, April 26 - Perrysburg Tennis Center - Perrysburg, Ohio
MAC TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS - FINAL
Singles
1 - Monica Gorny (MU) def. Kerstin Pahl 6-1, 6-4
2 - Anastasia Dracheva (MU) def. Emily Dudzik 6-3, 6-0
3 - Ashley Moccia (WMU) led Stephanie Danesis 7-5, 2-4, abandoned
4 - Megan Martzolf (MU) def. Maria Nivia 6-2, 6-1
5 - Brintney Larson (MU) led Amanda Moccia 6-2, 3-5, abandoned
6 - Riekie Honiball (MU) vs. Yumi Matsuto (WMU) 0-6, 6-3, 2-2, abandoned
Doubles
1 - Danesis/Martzolf (MU) def. Dudzik/Matsuto 8-4
2 - Gorny/Dracheva (MU) led Pahl/Am. Moccia 7-3, abandoned
3 - Larson/Honiball (MU) def. Nalepa/Ash. Moccia 8-2
Order of Finish
Doubles - 3,1 (2 abandoned)
Singles - 4,2,1 (3,5,6 abandoned)
