Penguins Look to Defend Horizon League Crown in Indiana
4/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The 2015 Horizon League regular-season champion Youngstown State women's tennis team will look to repeat as postseason champions when they begin play at the League Championships on Saturday at the Purdue University Schwartz Tennis Center.
YSU won its first conference title last year to advance to the NCAA Regionals. This year the Penguins have followed up that strong performance by posting an 8-0 conference mark to win their first regular season trophy.
Now, the Guins set their sights on repeating and making a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Regionals. They open play in the semifinals on Saturday at 3 p.m. against UIC or Milwaukee. The Flames (No. 4 seed) and Panthers (No. 5) square off on Friday at 3 o'clock. Weather could influence the start time of the YSU match as the forecast in West Lafayette on Saturday is calling for rain and would push the matches indoors.
Last year YSU needed to win three matches to advance, but this year will just need to win two on the weekend.
The singles lineup for the weekend is Marta Burak (No. 1), Dominika Lackova (No. 2), Annina Brendel (No. 3), Nehel Sahni (No. 4), Julianna Heino (No. 5) and Sofia Macias Mendoza (No. 6). In doubles, Burak and Heino will be at No. 1, Brendel and Sahni are at No. 2 and Lackova and Macias are at No. 3.
In Horizon League play, YSU posted a 38-10 mark in singles competition and a 15-5 record in doubles. The top three in the Penguins lineup (Burak-Lackova-Brendel) combined to go an impressive 23-1.
Leading the charge to repeat has been Burak. At No. 1 she recently concluded her third straight unbeaten Horizon League slate and has won 30 straight matches dating back to April 2011. On Thursday she was named the Horizon League's Player of the Year.
Lackova posted her second straight unbeaten campaign going 8-0 this year at No. 2. She leads the team in singles with 23 for the year. Brendel has won a career-best 19 matches this season and went 7-1 in Horizon League matches. Lackova was a first-team all-conference selection while Brendel was a second-team honoree.
At No. 4, Sahni posted a 6-2 conference mark and was 11-10 this spring in dual matches. At No. 5, Heino had three conference wins and nine singles wins. In the six spot, Macias was 6-2 in league play and 8-5 overall. Since she joined the lineup the Penguins are 10-3 in dual match play.
In doubles, Burak and Heino teamed up at No. 1 to post a 4-1 mark. At No. 2, Sahni and Brendel went 5-2 while at No. 3, Lackova and Macias posted a 5-1 record.
