Women's Tennis Beats Butler, Valparaiso on the Road

Saturday, January 24

10 am

University of Akron

Butler

Women's Tennis Beats Butler, Valparaiso on the Road

January 24 | Women's Tennis

INDIANAPOLIS — The University of Akron women's tennis team claimed its first two wins of the season on Saturday at the Butler Bubble.

Akron improved to 2-1 overall with a 6-1 win over host Butler and a 7-0 sweep of Valparaiso.

In the morning doubles action against Butler, sophomore Karolina Maksimava (Mogliev, Belarus) and junior Martina Zerbola (Neuquen, Argentina) defeated Konstantina Adami and Kylie Haviland, 6-1, at the No. 1 spot. Teammates freshman Sophia Geier (Burgebrach, Germany) and senior Olga Shkundina (Ufa, Russia) beat Rachel Sutton and Angelina Qin, 6-1, at the No. 3 spot to claim the doubles point.

In singles action, the Zips won five of six matches against the Bulldogs. Zerbola, Shkundina, freshman Ariadna Blinova (Riga, Latvia), Geier, and freshman Maria Bessmertnaya (Pyatigorsk, Russia) each recorded singles wins.

Against Valparaiso in the evening match, Akron swept every match. At No. 1 doubles, Maksimava and Zerbola won their second match on the day, beating Kaitlyn Hamel and Kathleen Hebble, 6-4. Freshman Kati Mdzinarishvili (Hudson, Ohio) saw her first singles action, defeating Michele Fredlake, 6-3, 6-0, at the No. 6 spot.

"We saw some good and bad things today, exposing our youth once again, as we continue to develop and grow as a team," head coach Brandon Padgett said. "Doubles was very up and down, but we will get back to work on it right away during practice. I was very pleased to see Madison Cohen back on court in singles, and we hope this is a sign of things to come."

Akron will host Oakland (Mich.) on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 6 p.m. at the LaTuchie Tennis Center.

AKRON 6, BUTLER 1
January 24, 2015

Doubles:
1. Karolina Maksimava/Martina Zerbola (UA) def. Konstantina Adami/Kylie Haviland, 6-1
2. Bailey Padgett/Kailey Eaton (BU) def. Ariadna Blinova/Madison Cohen, 6-2
3. Sophia Geier/ Olga Shkundina (UA) def. Rachel Sutton/Angelina Qin, 6-1

Singles:
1. Bailey Padgett (BU) def. Karolina Maksimava, 7-5, 6-3
2. Martina Zerbola (UA) def. Kylie Haviland, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7)
3. Olga Shkundina (UA) def. Kailey Eaton, 6-3, 6-3
4. Ariadna Blinova (UA) def. Rachel Sutton, 6-4, 7-5
5. Sophia Geier (UA) def. Angelina Qin, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (8)
6. Maria Bessmertnaya (UA) def. Callie Schmidt, 6-2, 7-5

Order of finish:
Doubles– 3, 2, 1
Singles– 3, 1, 4, 2, 6, 5

* * *

AKRON 7, VALPARAISO 0
January 24, 2015

Doubles:
1. Karolina Maksimava/Martina Zerbola (UA) def. Kaitlyn Hamel/Kathleen Hebble, 6-4
2. Ariadna Blinova/ Kati Mdzinarishvili (UA) def. Paige Heuer/Megan Barthels, 6-2
3. Sophia Geier/Maria Bessmertnaya (UA) def. Cary Milanes/Michele Fredlake, 6-3

Singles:
1. Madison Cohen (UA) def. Kaitlyn Hamel, 6-3, 6-1
2. Karolina Maksimava (UA) def. Kathleen Hebble, 6-0, 6-2
3. Martina Zerbola (UA) def. Cary Milanes, 6-1, 6-4
4. Sophia Geier (UA) def. Paige Heuer, 6-0, 6-0
5. Maria Bessmertnaya (UA) def. Megan Barthels, 6-3, 6-7 (3) 1-0 (5)
6. Kati Mdzinarishvili (UA) def. Michele Fredlake, 6-3, 6-0