University of Houston
Northwestern State
Women's Tennis Edges Northwestern State, 4-3
2/11/2012 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Feb. 11, 2012
HOUSTON - The University of Houston women's tennis team claimed four of six singles matches in straight sets to clinch a 4-3 victory over Northwestern State on Saturday at John E. Hoff Courts. The Cougars avenged last season's loss to the Lady Demons to improve to 2-2 overall this season.
"We came out sluggish in doubles but rebounded nicely in singles," head coach John Severance said. "The team showed a lot of effort and we'll take the win."
Houston's top doubles tandem of Bryony Hunter and Giorgia Pozzan led off play with an 8-3 loss but the Cougar pair of Liselot Koenen and Laura Ring evened the doubles portion with an 8-3 victory at the No. 3 position to improve to 2-0 this season.
The opening point came down to the No. 2 spot, where Northwestern State's Tatiana Larina and Andrea Nedorostova broke a 5-5 tie with three-straight games to defeat Charlotte Phillips and Maja Kazimieruk.
Kazimieruk rebounded by taking the opening singles match over Dana Sardak by a score of 6-1, 6-1, and Phillips followed with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Amy Williams to put Houston up 2-1 in the match.
Pozzan broke a 2-2 tie in the contest with a dominating 6-1, 6-2 win over Nedorostova to improve to 3-1 this season and put the Cougars within one win of clinching the match.
With the contest on the line, Fraser cruised past Larina in the first set by a score of 6-2 and held a 5-2 lead in the second set before Larina rallied back to close the gap to 5-4. The two would go back and forth with the deciding game at deuce before Fraser finished it off the clinch the victory.
The Cougars return to action at noon on Sunday to play host to UTSA.
Houston 4, Northwestern State 3
DOUBLES
1. Bazhanova/Konop (NSU) def. Hunter/Pozzan (UH), 8-3
2. Larina/Nedorostova (NSU) def. Phillips/Kazimieruk (UH), 8-5
3. Koenen/Ring (UH) def. Sardak/Williams (NSU), 8-3
Order of Finish: 1,3,2*
SINGLES
1. Olga Bazhanova (NSU) def. Bryony Hunter (UH), 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
2. Giorgia Pozzan (UH) def. Andrea Nedorostova (NSU), 6-1, 6-2
3. Celia Fraser (UH) def. Tatiana Larina (NSU), 6-2, 6-4
4. Polina Konop (NSU) def. Liselot Koenen (UH), 6-3, 6-1
5. Charlotte Phillips (UH) def. Amy Williams (NSU), 6-1, 6-3
6. Maja Kazimieruk (UH) def. Dana Sardak (NSU), 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6,5,4,2,3*,1
*Clinching point
Players Mentioned
