TicketsCINCINNATI – The Bearcats women's tennis team bounced back in a big way with a 4-3 victory over East Tennessee State University. The Bucs came sailing in to the Queen City for the weekend and, while it looked like they might force a surrender, found themselves run ashore.
The match felt much like a voyage through all seven seas. Up, down, thrilling, disappointing, triumphant and every other emotion in between. The Bucs fired the first shots as they clinched the doubles point. They kept the canons firing as they took two of the first three singles matches of the nights, but the Bearcats would not go down without a fight. A trio of three set matches and a racquet toss celebration later, the Bucs were given no quarter by the Bearcats.
// DOUBLES
Order of Finish: 2,3
No. 1 | Guna/Philp (CIN) vs. Bakhodirova/Morales (ETSU) 5-4, unfinished
No. 2 | Amaro/Ma (ETSU) def. Miceli/Morton (CIN) 6-1
No. 3 | Elizarraras/Pascual-Larrinaga (ETSU) def. Coutino/Huser (CIN) 6-3
ETSU hoisted the colors and came out firing in doubles as they took court #2. The duo of Alexia Coutino and Amanada Huser, playing together for the first time this season, came out strong but fell short as they were defeated 6-3.
Philp/Guna remain 6-3 for the season in doubles.
// SINGLES
Order of Finish: 4,1,3,2,6,5
No. 1 | Ioana Guna (CIN) def. Laylo Bakhodirova (ETSU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 | Caroline Morton (CIN) def. Alejandra Morales (ETSU) 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-5
No. 3 | Andrea Pascual-Larrinaga (ETSU) def. Alexia Coutino (CIN) 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 | Raquel Amaro (ETSU) def. Maria Santilli (CIN) 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 | Emma Miceli (CIN) def. Yunuen Elizarraras (ETSU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 6 | Anna Philp (CIN) def. Yi Chi Ma (ETSU) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5)
The Bucs, with cutlasses sharpened, looked to continue their advance as play moved to singles. Maria Santilli fell for the first time this season in singles play, but she would not be defeated easily. After dropping the first set on the #4 court and falling behind in the second, she came roaring back, but fell just short.
Ioana Guna got the Bearcats on the board with a strong 6-4, 6-2 victory on the #1 court, but the Bucs kept on firing. They reloaded the canons and dealt another blow as they took the #3 court. While ETSU may have been looking to make the Bearcats walk the plank, they didn't anticipate the storm that was brewing as they looked at a 3-1 lead.
Caroline Morton gutted out a first set victory in a thrilling 7-6 (7) showing, but ETSU rallied to take the second. Caroline dug in and came roaring back to give the Bearcats their second victory of the night as she claimed the third set, something that would become a trend for the night, in a 7-5 showing.
As focused turned to the action on the back courts, the crowd on hand clamored to get any view they could. After falling behind in the first set, Anna Philp fought back to take the second. The crowd grew restless as they could sense the tide was turning in the Bearcats favor and shouts of encouragement could be heard. Philp dug in and fought through, what is likely, the longest point of the night, unofficially timed at around four minutes. In the end, she won a triumphant and thrilling tie breaking in the third set, causing the crowd to explode as she had tied the match.
The Bucs looked to be battening down the hatches as all attention focused on the battle being waged on court #5 between the Bearcats Emma Miceli and ETSU's Yunuen Elizarraras. After dropping the first set, Miceli roared back to take the second. With both teams lining the court and the crowd above watching on bated breath, Miceli notched what could be the biggest victory of her young career. Backhand, forehand, forehand, lunging backhand, scream, racquet toss, celebrate with teammates. Miceli capped off the match in thrilling fashion.
Santilli moves to 8-1 in singles for the season, 7-0 on the #5 court.
Miceli moves to 7-1 for the season.
Morton moves to 7-3 for the season.
// COACH TOTH ON THE BEARCATS
"They had match points to win it and Caroline Morton did an exceptional job. Caroline is a gamer and did a great job of keeping us in it. I'm really proud of these guys because ETSU is a very good team. A very well-earned victory over a very good team. Emma always gives it her best and she's going to give it her best fight and that's what she did. Anna Philp deserves a ton of credit because that's only her second singles match of the season. That's a lot of pressure to be under and for her to get it done when she needs to win, it just says a lot about her. It boils down to heart and grit, I'm not sure we had any more than them, but it was enough to get the win tonight."
// SMASHING STREAKS
Miceli :: Singles – 5 Matches
Morton :: Singles – 2 Matches
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will make the short trip up I-75 to Dayton, Ohio to face the Wright State Raiders on Saturday, March 9. Scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start, the match will be played at South Regency Tennis and Fitness Center.
// FOLLOW THE TEAM
Stay connected with UC women's tennis on Facebook (GoBearcatsWTEN), Twitter (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Instagram (GoBearcatsWTEN).
The match felt much like a voyage through all seven seas. Up, down, thrilling, disappointing, triumphant and every other emotion in between. The Bucs fired the first shots as they clinched the doubles point. They kept the canons firing as they took two of the first three singles matches of the nights, but the Bearcats would not go down without a fight. A trio of three set matches and a racquet toss celebration later, the Bucs were given no quarter by the Bearcats.
// DOUBLES
Order of Finish: 2,3
No. 1 | Guna/Philp (CIN) vs. Bakhodirova/Morales (ETSU) 5-4, unfinished
No. 2 | Amaro/Ma (ETSU) def. Miceli/Morton (CIN) 6-1
No. 3 | Elizarraras/Pascual-Larrinaga (ETSU) def. Coutino/Huser (CIN) 6-3
ETSU hoisted the colors and came out firing in doubles as they took court #2. The duo of Alexia Coutino and Amanada Huser, playing together for the first time this season, came out strong but fell short as they were defeated 6-3.
Philp/Guna remain 6-3 for the season in doubles.
// SINGLES
Order of Finish: 4,1,3,2,6,5
No. 1 | Ioana Guna (CIN) def. Laylo Bakhodirova (ETSU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 2 | Caroline Morton (CIN) def. Alejandra Morales (ETSU) 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-5
No. 3 | Andrea Pascual-Larrinaga (ETSU) def. Alexia Coutino (CIN) 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 | Raquel Amaro (ETSU) def. Maria Santilli (CIN) 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 | Emma Miceli (CIN) def. Yunuen Elizarraras (ETSU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
No. 6 | Anna Philp (CIN) def. Yi Chi Ma (ETSU) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5)
The Bucs, with cutlasses sharpened, looked to continue their advance as play moved to singles. Maria Santilli fell for the first time this season in singles play, but she would not be defeated easily. After dropping the first set on the #4 court and falling behind in the second, she came roaring back, but fell just short.
Ioana Guna got the Bearcats on the board with a strong 6-4, 6-2 victory on the #1 court, but the Bucs kept on firing. They reloaded the canons and dealt another blow as they took the #3 court. While ETSU may have been looking to make the Bearcats walk the plank, they didn't anticipate the storm that was brewing as they looked at a 3-1 lead.
Caroline Morton gutted out a first set victory in a thrilling 7-6 (7) showing, but ETSU rallied to take the second. Caroline dug in and came roaring back to give the Bearcats their second victory of the night as she claimed the third set, something that would become a trend for the night, in a 7-5 showing.
When you gut out a huge first set tiebreaker!#Bearcats | #AllDay pic.twitter.com/5kZrzqkEjg
— Cincinnati Tennis (@GoBearcatsWTEN) March 1, 2019
As focused turned to the action on the back courts, the crowd on hand clamored to get any view they could. After falling behind in the first set, Anna Philp fought back to take the second. The crowd grew restless as they could sense the tide was turning in the Bearcats favor and shouts of encouragement could be heard. Philp dug in and fought through, what is likely, the longest point of the night, unofficially timed at around four minutes. In the end, she won a triumphant and thrilling tie breaking in the third set, causing the crowd to explode as she had tied the match.
AND THE CROWD EXPLODES!!!
— Cincinnati Tennis (@GoBearcatsWTEN) March 2, 2019
Anna Philip with the win on court 6!
Tied 3-3#Bearcats | #AllDay pic.twitter.com/ENMJLDjmjP
The Bucs looked to be battening down the hatches as all attention focused on the battle being waged on court #5 between the Bearcats Emma Miceli and ETSU's Yunuen Elizarraras. After dropping the first set, Miceli roared back to take the second. With both teams lining the court and the crowd above watching on bated breath, Miceli notched what could be the biggest victory of her young career. Backhand, forehand, forehand, lunging backhand, scream, racquet toss, celebrate with teammates. Miceli capped off the match in thrilling fashion.
GAME!
— Cincinnati Tennis (@GoBearcatsWTEN) March 2, 2019
SET!
MATCH!
Emma with the 7-5 win in the 3rd set to WIN IT!!!#Bearcats | #AllDay pic.twitter.com/upWxPu1Q1A
Santilli moves to 8-1 in singles for the season, 7-0 on the #5 court.
Miceli moves to 7-1 for the season.
Morton moves to 7-3 for the season.
// COACH TOTH ON THE BEARCATS
"They had match points to win it and Caroline Morton did an exceptional job. Caroline is a gamer and did a great job of keeping us in it. I'm really proud of these guys because ETSU is a very good team. A very well-earned victory over a very good team. Emma always gives it her best and she's going to give it her best fight and that's what she did. Anna Philp deserves a ton of credit because that's only her second singles match of the season. That's a lot of pressure to be under and for her to get it done when she needs to win, it just says a lot about her. It boils down to heart and grit, I'm not sure we had any more than them, but it was enough to get the win tonight."
// SMASHING STREAKS
Miceli :: Singles – 5 Matches
Morton :: Singles – 2 Matches
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will make the short trip up I-75 to Dayton, Ohio to face the Wright State Raiders on Saturday, March 9. Scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start, the match will be played at South Regency Tennis and Fitness Center.
// FOLLOW THE TEAM
Stay connected with UC women's tennis on Facebook (GoBearcatsWTEN), Twitter (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Instagram (GoBearcatsWTEN).