The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Youngstown State
Akron Tops Youngstown State to Win Eighth Straight Match
February 20 | Women's Tennis
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Akron women's tennis team won their eighth straight match with a 4-3 victory against Youngstown State on Monday afternoon at Boardman Tennis Center.
With the win, the Zips improve to 9-2 on the season, while Youngstown State drops to 4-4.
"Today, it was obvious that we were both physically and mentally tired. We played a very good Youngstown State team and we knew it was going to be a difficult task with it being our fourth match in four days. That being said, we clinched the match at 4-1 and Karalina [Maksimava] and Ariadna [Blinova] lost two extremely close, heartbreaking matches," said head coach Brandon Padgett.
In doubles action, the duos of junior Carli Knezevich (Lake Travis, Texas)/senior Karalina Maksimava (Mogilev, Belarus) and junior Ariadna Blinova (Riga, Latvia)/junior Sophia Geier (Burgebrach, Germany) notched wins to help Akron clinch the doubles point.
Knezevich/Maksimava posted a 6-1 win over YSU's Dominika Lackova/Ana Stroe and Blinova/Geier topped the Penguins' duo of Imaan Hassim/Sofia Macias, 6-2.
The pairing of Knezevich and Maksimava has now won their last seven matches together and sit at 7-1 in doubles play this spring.
At the No. 1 singles spot, Geier registered a 6-3, 6-1 win over Lackova to improve to 9-1 in singles matches this spring.
Freshman Rita Pedroso (Porto, Portugal) posted a win for the Zips in No. 3 singles action as she took a 6-1, 6-2 decision against Stroe.
In the No. 5 singles match, sophomore Luisa Echeverry (Cali, Colombia) notched a straight-set (6-4, 6-2) victory over the Penguins' Monique Belovukovic.
"This ends a long stretch for us, and we can now regroup and get ready for Duquesne and Cleveland State with fresh minds and bodies," added Padgett.
Akron will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 24 with a 1 p.m. match against Duquesne at LaTuchie Tennis Center in Stow.
AKRON 4, YOUNGSTOWN STATE 3
Boardman Tennis Center
February 20, 2017
Doubles:
1. Karalina Maksimava/Carli Knezevich (UA) def. Dominika Lackova/Ana Stroe, 6-1
2. Ariadna Blinova/Sophia Geier (UA) def. Imaan Hassim/Sofia Macias, 6-2
3. Shannon Newnes/Rita Pedroso (UA) vs. Nehel Sahni/Monique Belovukovic (YSU), 3-3 DNF
Singles:
1. Sophia Geier (UA) def. Dominika Lackova, 6-3, 6-1
2. Sofia Macias (YSU) def. Ariadna Blinova, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7)
3. Rita Pedroso (UA) def. Ana Stroe, 6-1, 6-2
4. Imaan Hassim (YSU) def. Karalina Maksimava, 2-6, 7-5, 1-0 (6)
5. Luisa Echeverry (UA) def. Monique Belovukovic, 6-4, 6-2
6. Nehel Sahni (YSU) def. Carli Knezevich, 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish:
Doubles— 1, 2
Singles— 3, 1, 6, 5, 4, 2
Team Records:
Akron (9-2, 0-0 MAC)
Youngstown State (4-4, 0-0 Horizon)
Players Mentioned
