TicketsCINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's tennis team won a hard fought conference match against Temple, earning a 4-1 Saturday afternoon at the Western Tennis & Fitness Club.
// DOUBLES
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
No. 1 | Poggensee-Wei/Bellinger (CIN) def. Abdurakhimova/Khon (TEMPLE) 7-5
No. 2 | Stuckey-Willis/Bedon (TEMPLE) def. Hutchison/Miller (CIN) 7-5
No. 3 | Morton/Bramato (CIN) def. Nussaume/Karina (TEMPLE) 7-5
The doubles matches set the tone for the day, will all three courts playing close. Kelly Poggensee-Wei (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North) and Lauren Bellinger (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome) trailed early but battled back to finish first with a 7-5 win. Caroline Morton (Dubuque, Iowa/Evert Tennis Academy) and Antonella Bramato (Pachuca, Mexico/Elise Freinet) secured the point for the Bearcats with a 7-5 win on court No. 3 to give UC the 1-0 lead.
// SINGLES
Order of Finish: 6,2,5,4
No. 1 | Lauren Bellinger (CIN) vs. Alina Abdurakhimova (TEMPLE) 7-5, 3-6, 3-1, unfinished
No. 2 | Kelly Poggensee-Wei (CIN) def. Monet Stuckey-Willis (TEMPLE) 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 | Antonella Bramato (CIN) vs. Galina Chernykh (TEMPLE) 4-6, 6-6 (4-2), unfinished
No. 4 | Caroline Morton (CIN) def. Mariana Bedon (TEMPLE) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
No. 5 | Ali Miller (CIN) def. Dina Karina (TEMPLE) 7-6 (7-1), 6-3
No. 6 | Yana Khon (TEMPLE) def. Harley Hutchison (CIN) 6-3, 6-0
The singles matches lived up to the hype of doubles with all six courts playing close early. The Bearcats looked in good shape as the first sets wrapped up with UC taking the opening frame on four courts. However, Temple evened the score at one with a quick win on court No. 6 before Poggensee-Wei won in straight sets on No. 2 by scores of 6-4, 6-3 to make it 2-1 UC.
After Miller added a win on court No. 5, the Bearcats needed just one final win to secure the match with Bellinger, Morton and Bramato still playing. After a 6-3 loss in the second set Bellinger was headed to a third set, while Morton was playing in a close second set.
Meanwhile, Bramato was staging a major comeback on court No. 3. After being down 5-1 in the second set, she battled back to take a 6-5 lead. Chernykh from Temple evened things up to force a set tiebreaker. One court over, Morton was in a tiebreaker of her own, battling for the second set and the match. Morton was down 6-5 in the tiebreaker, but evened the scoring a six all. After switching sides, Morton won the next two points to secure the match and the win for the Bearcats. Play was stopped on the other courts with Bellinger leading 3-1 in the third set and Bramato leading 4-2 in the second-set tiebreaker.
// COACH TOTH ON THE BEARCATS
"Our girls had to play at a really high level to earn a tough conference win today," stated head coach Eric Toth. "We have a short turnaround and need to come out focused and ready to go against Rhode Island tomorrow.
// UP NEXT
UC will face off with Rhode Island to wrap up the weekend. The match will be played outdoors at the Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center with the start time moved back one hour to 11 a.m.