BLACK & GOLD BATTLE PAST WINTHROP, 6-1, FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT WIN
RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia
Commonwealth University women's tennis program has appeared in the
top-25 during six different years under the guidance of Head Coach
Paul Kostin.
The Black & Gold is on its way to making that it seven
different years as the Rams reeled off their fifth straight win in
a 6-1 decision over the Eagles of Winthrop University on Tuesday
afternoon at the Thalhimer Tennis Center.
VCU started the afternoon off by picking up the doubles point.
Sophomore Alex Bara
(Oradea, Romania) and senior Olena
Leonchuk (Kiev, Ukraine) dropped Lisa Wilkinson and
Paula Pereira, 8-2, to lead the way for veterans Laura Burns
(Hertford, England) and Kateryna
Yergina (Kiev, Ukraine) to lock up the doubles point
with an 8-6 win over Sandra Herrera and Giovanna Portiolli.
Yergina then continued her hot play in singles, picking up her
fourth consecutive straight-set victory with a 6-1, 6-2 win over
Herrera. Bara followed with a near perfect 6-1, 6-0 decision over
Portiolli to give the Black & Gold a 3-0 lead.
Freshman Josefin
Hjertquist (Spanga, Sweden) then secured the win for
the Rams with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Yasmine
Alkema at #2 singles. The stellar newcomer now moves to 20-5
overall and 7-2 in dual matches.
Leonchuk and Burns also picked up wins to improve to 9-1 and 8-1,
respectively.
The Rams are back in action on Saturday afternoon when the Nittany
Lions of Penn State visit Thalhimer for a 4 p.m. showdown.
#27 VCU 6, #59 Winthrop 1
Doubles:
1. Zaytseva/Alkema def. Ana
Bara/Hjertquist, 8-3
2. Burns/Yergina def. Herrera-Portiolli, 8-6
3. Alex Bara/Leonchuk def. Wilkinson/Periera, 8-2
Order of finish: 3,2,1
Singles:
1. Elizaveta Zaytseva def. Ana Bara, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 10-8
2. Hjertquist def. Yasmine Alkema, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
3. Yergina def. Sandra Herrera, 6-1, 6-2
4. Alex Bara def. Giovanna Portiolli, 6-1, 6-0
5. Leonchuk def. Lisa Wilkinson, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
6. Burns def. Paula Pereira, 6-1, 6-0
Order of finish: 3,4,2,5,6,1
