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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's team earned a dramatic come-from-behind win over crosstown rival Xavier Wednesday afternoon to earn the first win over the Musketeers since 2013.
// DOUBLES
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
No. 1 | Di Lorenzo/Ghidotti (XAV) def. Bellinger/Poggensee-Wei (CIN) 6-4
No. 2 | Reichenbach/Liggins (XAV) def. Hutchison/Miller (CIN) 6-3
No. 3 | Bramato/Morton (CIN) def. Abelson/Manion (XAV) 6-4
The Bearcats battled close but Xavier claimed the first point of the match with a pair of wins in doubles play. UC added a win on court No. 3 from Antonella Bramato (Pachuca, Mexico/Elise Freinet) and Caroline Morton (Dubuque, Iowa/Evert Tennis Academy) to account for their lone victory during doubles.
// SINGLES
Order of Finish: 5,1,6,4,3,2
No. 1 | Lauren Bellinger (CIN) def. Sydney Liggins (XAV) 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 | Kelly Poggensee-Wei (CIN) def. Cristina Di Lorenzo (XAV) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 | Antonella Bramato (CIN) def. Lauren Ghidotti (XAV) 6-3, 6-5, retired
No. 4 | Caroline Morton (CIN) def. Rachael Reichenbach (XAV) 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 | Sophia Abelson (XAV) def. Ali Miller (CIN) 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 | Zoe Manion (XAV) def. Anna Philp (CIN) 7-5, 6-3
Things looked to be going Xavier's way early in singles play with the Musketeers winning the opening set of four of the six courts. Xavier took a 2-0 lead after a win on No. 5 before Lauren Bellinger (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Jerome) took control in the second set of her match on court No. 1. The senior went up 4-0 against her opponent from Xavier before crusing to a 6-1 win and cutting the lead to 2-1.
Xavier finished off a two-set win on court No. 5 to make it a 3-1 lead, meaning the Bearcats would need to take the remaining three courts.
The momentum started to switch the Bearcats way from there as Poggensee-Wei (Lake Villa, Ill./Grayslake North) on court No. 2 and Caroline Morton on court No. 3 both won their second sets and forced decisive third sets. Bramato was also up a set and playing a closely contested second set.
Morton finished off her win with 6-0, 6-1 wins to make the score 3-2. A few minutes later, Bramato's oponent on court No. 3 retired to even the score at three. All eyes turned to court No. 2 where Poggensee-Wei's third set was just underway. With all of her teammates watching, the senior promptly broke serve to take a 4-2 lead. After holding serve to make it 5-2, she finished off the win by beaking serve again to win the set 6-2.
Morton's win marked her 10th in a row.
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will host a conference match on Saturday, April 8, facing off with Memphis at the Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center at 2 p.m.