Youngstown State University
UIC
Penguins Earn Program's First Win Over UIC, 6-1
4/19/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Chicago, Ill. - The Youngstown State women's tennis team closed out the regular season on a high note defeating UIC 6-1 at the UIC Tennis Courts on Saturday. It marked the first win over the Flames in school history.
With the win, the Guins finish the regular season 11-11 and posted a 6-2 record in league play which left them third in the standings. YSU will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championships which start on Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich. UIC falls to 5-3 in HL play.
On Saturday, the Penguins jumped on the Flames early winning the doubles point. For the second straight contest Head Coach Mickael Sopel's revamped lineup paid dividends.
At No. 1, Marta Burak and Dominika Lackova won 8-5 over Kathryn Sharples and Mariana Palacios while at No. 3, Margarita Sadovnikova and Carolyn Jesko won 8-4 over Natalie Kuvakina and Keti Mebuke.
The Guins continued their momentum into singles play taking five of six matches from the Flames.
At No. 3, Lackova finished off a perfect Horizon League singles campaign with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Jana Knoppe by a 7-5, 6-2 score. Burak had to work an extra set for an unblemished league season but she got the job done rallying for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Palacios.
At No. 1, Sadovnikova breezed past Sharples 6-3, 6-2 while at No. 4 Annina Brendel beat Kuvakin by a score of 7-5, 6-0 while Nehel Sahni earned a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Mebuke.
The lone Flames point came at No. 6.
As the No. 3 seed, YSU will be in action on Friday at 11 a.m. when they face sixth-seed Wright State at the Michigan Varsity Tennis Center.
