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West Virginia
Tennis Gets By West Virginia, 4-3
January 17 | Women's Tennis
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Ksenia Berestetska's win at No. 5 singles lifted the Akron women's tennis team to a 4-3 victory over West Virginia on Friday afternoon at Ridgeview Racquet Club. The Zips improved to 2-0 in dual-match play this season and topped the Mountaineers (0-1) for the second-straight time dating to 2012.
Berestetska defeated Irinka Toidze 7-5, 7-6 (1) to clinch match point. West Virginia tied the contest at 2-all, when Kaja Mrgole bested Madison Cohen 6-7 (3), 6-0, 1-0 (7) at No. 3, and 3-all, with a 6-3, 6-3 win by Vivian Tsui over Caroline Harpaintner at No. 6.
After claiming the doubles point with wins at the first and third positions, Akron pulled ahead 2-0 in the match scoring thanks to a 7-5, 6-1 victory by Olga Shkundina against Hailey Barrett at No. 1, then took a 3-2 advantage when Martina Zerbola downed Ikttesh Chahal 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (8) at No. 2. WVU's Oana Manole topped Karolina Maksimava 6-2, 7-5 at No. 4 to make the match score 2-1 in favor of UA.
"We continued to battle ourselves again today, but I am proud of how everyone fought," fourth-year Akron head coach Brandon Padgett said. "The effort level we showed today was strong, and the resolve this team showed was impressive. I am proud of how hard this group is pushing itself."
In doubles, Newnes and Shkundina defeated Barrett and Chahal 7-6 (6) at No. 1, while Cohen and Zerbola did the same at No. 3 against Toidza and Tsui, 6-1. Manole and Mrgole got the better of Harpaintner and Maksimava at No. 2, 6-3.
Akron travels to Dayton and Wright State on Saturday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively, closing out a three-day stretch in which it competes four times.
Zips Notebook: Akron posted a 7-0 win over West Virginia in the previous meeting between the two programs on Feb. 5. 2012, also in Morgantown ... Martina Zerbola and Ksenia Berestetska improved to 2-0 in singles play ... Zerbola posted a win at No. 1 in Thursday's 7-0 victory at Robert Morris and Berestetska did the same at No. 3 against the Colonials ... Olga Shkundina saw her first competition of the season after sitting out Thursday's match at RMU.
Akron 4, West Virginia 3
Doubles:
1. Shannon Newnes/Olga Shkundina (UA) def. Hailey Barrett/Ikttesh Chahal (WVU) 7-6 (6)
2. Oana Manole/Kaja Mrgole (WVU) def. Caroline Harpainter/Karolina Maksimava (UA) 6-3
3. Madison Cohen/Martina Zerbola (UA) def. Irinka Toidza/Vivian Tsui (WVU) 6-1
Singles:
1. Olga Shkundina (UA) def. Hailey Barrett (WVU) 7-5, 6-1
2. Martina Zerbola (UA) def. Ikttesh Chahal (WVU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (8)
3. Kaja Mrgole (WVU) def. Madison Cohen (UA) 6-7 (3), 6-0, 1-0 (7)
4. Oana Manole (WVU) def. Karolina Maksimava (UA) 6-2, 7-5
5. Ksenia Berestetska (UA) def. Irinka Toidze (WVU) 7-5, 7-6 (1)
6. Vivian Tsui (WVU) def. Caroline Harpainter (UA) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish:
Doubles – 2, 3, 1
Singles – 1, 4, 3, 2, 6, 5
Team records:
Akron – 2-0
West Virginia – 0-1
Players Mentioned
