The University at Buffalo women’s tennis
team opened up Mid-American Conference
Tournament play with a 4-0 victory over
Eastern Michigan on Friday Afternoon.
The match was played indoors at the
Perrysburg Tennis Center due to high
winds in the Bowling Green area. The win
improves UB’s record to 14-5 as they
advance to Saturday’s semifinal round.
The Bulls got off to a very quick start
in doubles dominating all three matches.
UB’s number three team of Smaranda Stan
(Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania/Economic) and
Diana Toia (Rochester, NY/Brighton) got
the first victory as they defeated
Rumbidzai Muskwe and Marcela Rivero,
8-1. The Bulls then clinched the doubles
point moments later as the number one
team of Denise Harijanto (Jakarta,
Indonesia) and Diana Popescu
(Alexandria, Romania/AL. I. Cuza)
defeated Miriam Westernik and Joanna
Woo, 8-1. Due to the tournament format
the number two doubles matches was not
finished but the team of Aleksandra
Petrova (Sofia, Bulgaria/Logos
International) and Anna Subenkova (Riga,
Latvia) had a 7-0 lead on Karina Ahuja
and Xu Chang.
In singles play, the Bulls won or led
in all six matches when play was halted.
Toia claimed the first victory as she
defeated Joanna Woo at fourth singles,
6-3, 6-1. The Bulls then went up 3-0 in
the match as Harijanto overcame a late
first set deficit as she defeated
Westernik, 7-6 (1), 6-1. Stan then
clinched her fourth straight MAC
Tournament match, dating back to last
season, as she overcame a second set
deficit to defeat Chang, 6-3, 7-5.
Popescu, who was playing at second
singles, dropped her first set 6-4
before coming back to win the second set
6-0. She was up 2-1 in the third set
when play was stopped following the UB
victory. Due to only have four courts
available at a time, the fifth and sixth
singles matches were unable to begin
until after a match concluded. That
didn’t stop the Bulls from getting off
to early leads before play was stopped.
At fifth singles Petrova had a 5-1 lead
in the first set, while Subenkova was
working on the shutout at sixth singles,
finishing with a 3-0 lead.
The Bulls will continue MAC
Tournament play tomorrow afternoon as
they face Western Michigan in the
semifinals at 2:00 pm. This is the
fourth straight year that the Bulls and
Broncos have met in the MAC Tournament.
The first semifinal will be top seed,
Miami and fifth-seeded Toledo. Miami
defeated Northern Illinois today, while
the Rockets defeated the host, Bowling
Green. Western Michigan defeated Akron
4-0 in its quarterfinal match.
Doubles:
1. Denise Harijanto/Diana Popescu (UB)
def. Miriam Westernik/Joanna Woo (EMU),
8-1
2. Anna Subenkova/Aleksandra Petrova
(UB) led Karina Ahuja/Xu Chang (EMU),
7-0
3. Diana Toia/Smaranda Stan (UB) def.
Rumbidzai Muskwe/Marcela Rivero (EMU),
8-1
Order of Finish: 3,1 (Not finished:
2)
Singles
1. Denise Harijanto (UB) def. Miriam
Westernik (EMU), 7-6 (1), 6-1
2. Diana Popescu (UB) led Karina
Ahuja (EMU), 4-6, 6-0, 2-1
3. Smaranda Stan (UB) def. Xu Chang
(EMU), 6-3, 7-5
4. Diana Toia (UB) def. Joanna Woo
(EMU), 6-3, 6-1
5. Aleksandra Petrova (UB) led
Marcela Rivero (EMU), 5-1
6. Anna Subenkova (UB) led Rumbidzai
Muskwe (EMU), 3-0
Order of Finish: 4,1,3 (Not Finished:
2,5,6)
