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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's tennis team opened up the 2016 season Saturday afternoon with a 5-2 win over visiting Liberty inside the Western Tennis & Fitness Club.
// DOUBLES:
Order of Finish - 1,3,2
No. 1 | Bellinger/Miller (UC) def. Crist/Thong (LIB), 7-5
No. 2 | Khval/Dollar (LIB) def. Bramato/Bure (UC), 7-6 (8-6)
No. 3 | Perry/Abdalla (UC) def. Groeneveld/Anderson (LIB), 7-5
The Bearcats picked up the first point of the match thanks to a pair of doubles wins on courts No. 1 and 3. All three matches were tightly contested with Lauren Bellinger (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome) and Ali Miller (Portsmouth, Ohio/Portsmouth) picking up the first win. Samantha Perry (Grosse Point Shores, Mich./Grosse Point South) and Natalia Abdalla (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colegio Augusto Laranja) followed shortly behind with their 7-5 victory.
Antonella Bramato (Pachuca, Mexico/Elise Freinet) and Katya Bure (Springfield, N.J./Jonathan Dayton) battled back from a 3-0 deficit to force a tiebreaker but came up just short falling 8-6 in the extra frame.
// SINGLES:
Order of Finish - 4,5,6,2,3,1
No. 1 | Lauren Bellinger (UC) def. Belen Rivera (LIB) 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
No. 2 | Ali Miller (UC) def. Mara Khval (LIB) 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 | Evangeline Crist (LIB) def. Antonella Bramato (UC) 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 | Natalia Abdalla (UC) def. Emily Groeneveld (LIB) 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 | Aleksandra Panchenko (LIB) def. Katya Bure (UC) 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 | Hannah Wille (UC) def. Rebekah Anderson (LIB) 6-2, 6-4
The Bearcats jumped out to a 2-1 lead thanks to Abdalla's quick work on court No. 4. The sophomore grabbed wins of 6-1 and 6-1 to set the tone for UC. Liberty added their first point of the match at No. 5 singles before Hannah Wille (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway) put the Bearcats just one point from victory.
Attention then turned to the front courts where Bellinger and Miller were both battling in third sets. Each took opposite routes as Bellinger picked up a first-set win while Miller rebounded to win her second set.
Miller was able to secure the match win for the Bearcats with a 6-3 victory in the final set. Bellinger followed behind, earning a 7-3 win in the tiebreaker to give UC the 5-2 win.