The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Saint Peter''s
Zips Stay Hot with Pair of Road Wins
February 18 | Women's Tennis
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NEWARK, N.J. – The Zips kept things rolling on Saturday with a pair of victories as Akron topped Saint Peter's by a 7-0 score at Yanitelli Center in Jersey City and bested New Jersey Institute of Technology, 4-0 at The Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Center in Newark.
The Zips now sit at 8-2 on the year and have won seven straight matches. Saint Peter's falls to 1-9 and NJIT is 1-5.
"Another good effort tonight. We haven't played a match late in the day in quite some time and I'm happy with the energy we showed throughout the entire match. Playing on 5 courts earlier today and four courts tonight could have easily caused us to lose focus or drop our intensity, but I'm proud of the way we didn't allow that to alter us in any way," said head coach Brandon Padgett. "Now, we must turn our focus to Youngstown State."
In the match against Saint Peter's, Akron clinched the doubles point on the strength of victories from the duos of junior Ariadna Blinova (Riga Latvia)/senior Shannon Newnes (Romford, London), sophomore Carla Flores (Coahuila, Mexico)/junior Carli Knezevich (Lake Travis, Texas) and sophomore Luisa Echeverry (Cali, Colombia)/sophomore Waverly Wituski (Springboro, Ohio).
At the No. 1 singles spot, Blinova cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 victory against the Peacocks' Lucia Radovic.
Playing at the No. 2 singles spot for the first time this season, Echeverry swept (6-0, 6-0) SPU's Elena Melian Puigventos.
Knezevich registered a 6-2, 6-1 win over Saint Peters' Malieva Hedberg in No. 3 singles action.
Newnes and Wituski each picked up victories for the Zips in their respective singles matches. Newnes topped the Peacocks' Claudia Hellman, 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 4 singles spot and in No. 6 singles action, Wituski notched a 6-0, 6-2 decision against Christian Resurreccion.
Flores remained unbeaten in singles action this spring with a 6-0, 6-1 win over SPU's Stephanie Falcon.
Akron clinched the doubles point against NJIT as Knezevich/senior Karalina Maksimava (Mogilev, Belarus) posted a 6-4 victory over the Highlanders' Rafaella Sampaio/Mayar Eltony and Blinova/junior Sophia Geier (Burgebrach, Germany) topped Nathalie Habegger/Alba Rosas Garcia, 6-0.
Geier registered her eighth straight win with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Sampaio in No. 1 singles action.
At the No. 2 singles spot, Blinova picked up a straight set win (6-0, 6-2) over Eltony.
Maksimava rallied to top Habegger in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory at the No. 3 singles spot for the Zips.
Akron returns to action on Monday, Feb. 20 with a 12 p.m. match at Youngstown State.
AKRON 7, SAINT PETER'S 0
Yanitelli Center
February 18, 2017
Doubles:
1. Ariadna Blinova/Shannon Newnes (UA) def. Lucia Radovic/Malieva Hedberg, 6-4
2. Carla Flores/Carli Knezevich (UA) def. Elena Melian Puigventos/Claudia Hellman, 6-0
3. Luisa Echeverry/Waverly Wituski (UA) def. Azuri Hughes/Aidah Muhammad, 6-1
Singles:
1. Ariadna Blinova (UA) def. Lucia Radovic, 6-0, 6-1
2. Luisa Echeverry (UA) def. Elena Melian Puigventos, 6-0, 6-0
3. Carli Knezevich (UA) def. Malieva Hedberg, 6-2, 6-1
4. Shannon Newnes (UA) def. Claudia Hellman, 6-1, 6-1
5. Carla Flores (UA) def. Stephanie Falcon, 6-0, 6-1
6. Waverly Wituski (UA) def. Christian Resurreccion, 6-0, 6-2
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 2, 3, 1
Singles— 2, 1, 5, 4, 3, 6
AKRON 4, NJIT 0
The Naimoli Family Athletic and Recreational Center
February 18, 2017
Doubles:
1. Carli Knezevich/Karalina Maksimava (UA) def. Rafaella Sampaio/Mayar Eltony, 6-4
2. Ariadna Blinova/Sophia Geier (UA) def. Nathalie Habegger/Alba Rosas Garcia, 6-0
3. Natacha Minc/Natalija Tasovac (NJIT) def. Luisa Echeverry/Carla Flores, 6-3
Singles:
1. Sophia Geier (UA) def. Rafaella Sampaio, 6-0, 6-2
2. Ariadna Blinova (UA) def. Mayar Eltony, 6-0, 6-2
3. Karalina Maksimava (UA) def. Nathalie Habegger, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
4. Luisa Echeverry (UA) vs. Natacha Minc, 2-6, 6-4, 2-1 DNF (NJIT Led)
5. Carli Knezevich (UA) vs. Alba Rosas Garcia, 6-3, 4-3 DNF (UA Led)
6. Shannon Newnes (UA) vs. Natalijia Tasovac, 6-3 DNF (UA Led)
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 2, 3, 1
Singles— 1, 2, 3
Team Records:
Akron (8-2, 0-0 MAC)
Saint Peter's (1-9, 0-0 MAAC)
NJIT (1-5, 0-0 ASUN)
Players Mentioned
