TicketsCINCINNATI – The Bearcats women's tennis team faced off with the Xavier Musketeers in a crosstown showdown. The Bearcat fought to the finish, but the Musketeers prevailed 4-3 in a marathon match that was just short of four hours long.
Xaiver got an early lead as they claimed the doubles point, but the Bearcats would not go away easily. After evening the match at 1-1, Xavier claimed two singles matches and looked set to take the match, but the Bearcats tied it up 3-3. Focused turned to the final court in play, but in the end the Musketeers had just enough left to take down the Bearcats.
// DOUBLES
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
No. 1 | Thomas/Kyle (XU) def. Bramato/ Coutino (CIN) 6-4
No. 2 | Abelson/Ruether (XU) def. Guna/Philp (CIN) 6-3
No. 3 | Miceli/Morton (CIN) def. Reichenbach/Roper (XU) 6-3
The doubles action would set the tone for the remainder of the match. No point would come easy and it was going to be a back and forth battle. Xavier struck first and claimed court #2 with a 6-3 victory, but the Bearcats duo of Emma Miceli and Caroline Morton would even it up with a 6-3 victory on court #3. Xavier claimed the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead following a 6-4 victory on court #1.
Antonella Bramato/Alexia Coutino are now 11-6 for the season.
Anna Philp/Ioana Guna move to 9-6 for the season.
Emma Miceli/Caroline Morton now stand at 8-6 for the season.
// SINGLES
Order of Finish: 5,1,3,4,2,6
No. 1 | Ahmeir Kyle (XU) def. Antonella Bramato (CIN) 7-6 (2), 6-1
No. 2 | Ioana Guna (CIN) def. Sophia Abelson (XU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 | Emily Thomas (XU) def. Caroline Morton (CIN) 7-5, 6-2
No. 4 | Maria Santilli (CIN) def. Rachael Reichenbach (XU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 | Anna Philp (CIN) def. Hunter Roper (XU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 | Kaitlin Ruether (XU) def. Emma Miceli (CIN) 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4
The tension continued to build as play moved to singles. Anna Philp struck first for the Bearcats behind a confident and commanding 6-2, 6-3 performance on court #5. Xavier would respond with back-to-back singles victories on court #1 and #3, but Maria Santilli kept the Bearcats hopes alive. Santilli took the first set, but the second set took a little extra work. In the end Santilli continued her strong freshman season as she cut the Musketeers lead with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court #3.
The tensions and emotions continued to build as both teams crowded on to court #4 to cheer on the two remaining courts in action. Ioana Guna fell behind in the first set, but came roaring back to force a third set. Neither competitor wanted to lose the match and it showed as they battled back and forth, but in the end Guna played senior day spoiler with the 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory on court #2 and knotted the match up at 3-3.
The excitement continued to build as each team celebrated every winning point on the final court in play. After dropping the first set, Emma Miceli continued to show why this team embodies Fight to the Finish and gutted out a second set victory to force the match and team victory clinching third set. The set continued the trend set earlier in the match as both competitors battled for every point and neither wanted to disappoint their team. Xavier would jump out to a lead and Emma would rally right back. With the deciding set standing at 4-4, Xavier managed to finish it off with the 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4 victory and clinched the match.
Santilli moves to 13-3 in singles for the season, including 7-0 on court #5.
Miceli is now 10-5 for the season, including 7-3 on court #6.
Bramato drops to 8-4 for the season, including 5-1 on court #2.
Morton moves to 11-6 for the season, including 10-5 on court #3.
// COACH TOTH ON THE BEARCATS
"It's bitter when you lose to a rival, but these girls played their guts tonight and fought and that's all you can ask as a coach. You've got to give Xaiver credit, they're having a great season. Emma couldn't have done much more on that last court, her competitor played a great third set. If we can fight and compete like this down the stretch, we're going to have a great end of the season, regardless of if we win or lose. I'm just really proud of the team today."
// SMASHING STREAKS
Miceli/Morton :: Doubles – 4 Matches
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will finish the regular season with a pair of American Athletic Conference matches in Greenville, North Carolina. The team will open the weekend on Friday, April 12 with a 2 p.m. match against the ECU Pirates. The Bearcats will then conclude the regular season with a neutral site match against the UConn Huskies on Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m.
// FOLLOW THE TEAM
Stay connected with UC women's tennis on Facebook (GoBearcatsWTEN), Twitter (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Instagram (GoBearcatsWTEN).
Xaiver got an early lead as they claimed the doubles point, but the Bearcats would not go away easily. After evening the match at 1-1, Xavier claimed two singles matches and looked set to take the match, but the Bearcats tied it up 3-3. Focused turned to the final court in play, but in the end the Musketeers had just enough left to take down the Bearcats.
// DOUBLES
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
No. 1 | Thomas/Kyle (XU) def. Bramato/ Coutino (CIN) 6-4
No. 2 | Abelson/Ruether (XU) def. Guna/Philp (CIN) 6-3
No. 3 | Miceli/Morton (CIN) def. Reichenbach/Roper (XU) 6-3
The doubles action would set the tone for the remainder of the match. No point would come easy and it was going to be a back and forth battle. Xavier struck first and claimed court #2 with a 6-3 victory, but the Bearcats duo of Emma Miceli and Caroline Morton would even it up with a 6-3 victory on court #3. Xavier claimed the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead following a 6-4 victory on court #1.
Antonella Bramato/Alexia Coutino are now 11-6 for the season.
Anna Philp/Ioana Guna move to 9-6 for the season.
Emma Miceli/Caroline Morton now stand at 8-6 for the season.
// SINGLES
Order of Finish: 5,1,3,4,2,6
No. 1 | Ahmeir Kyle (XU) def. Antonella Bramato (CIN) 7-6 (2), 6-1
No. 2 | Ioana Guna (CIN) def. Sophia Abelson (XU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 | Emily Thomas (XU) def. Caroline Morton (CIN) 7-5, 6-2
No. 4 | Maria Santilli (CIN) def. Rachael Reichenbach (XU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 | Anna Philp (CIN) def. Hunter Roper (XU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 | Kaitlin Ruether (XU) def. Emma Miceli (CIN) 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4
The tension continued to build as play moved to singles. Anna Philp struck first for the Bearcats behind a confident and commanding 6-2, 6-3 performance on court #5. Xavier would respond with back-to-back singles victories on court #1 and #3, but Maria Santilli kept the Bearcats hopes alive. Santilli took the first set, but the second set took a little extra work. In the end Santilli continued her strong freshman season as she cut the Musketeers lead with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court #3.
The tensions and emotions continued to build as both teams crowded on to court #4 to cheer on the two remaining courts in action. Ioana Guna fell behind in the first set, but came roaring back to force a third set. Neither competitor wanted to lose the match and it showed as they battled back and forth, but in the end Guna played senior day spoiler with the 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory on court #2 and knotted the match up at 3-3.
The excitement continued to build as each team celebrated every winning point on the final court in play. After dropping the first set, Emma Miceli continued to show why this team embodies Fight to the Finish and gutted out a second set victory to force the match and team victory clinching third set. The set continued the trend set earlier in the match as both competitors battled for every point and neither wanted to disappoint their team. Xavier would jump out to a lead and Emma would rally right back. With the deciding set standing at 4-4, Xavier managed to finish it off with the 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-4 victory and clinched the match.
Santilli moves to 13-3 in singles for the season, including 7-0 on court #5.
Miceli is now 10-5 for the season, including 7-3 on court #6.
Bramato drops to 8-4 for the season, including 5-1 on court #2.
Morton moves to 11-6 for the season, including 10-5 on court #3.
// COACH TOTH ON THE BEARCATS
"It's bitter when you lose to a rival, but these girls played their guts tonight and fought and that's all you can ask as a coach. You've got to give Xaiver credit, they're having a great season. Emma couldn't have done much more on that last court, her competitor played a great third set. If we can fight and compete like this down the stretch, we're going to have a great end of the season, regardless of if we win or lose. I'm just really proud of the team today."
// SMASHING STREAKS
Miceli/Morton :: Doubles – 4 Matches
// UP NEXT
The Bearcats will finish the regular season with a pair of American Athletic Conference matches in Greenville, North Carolina. The team will open the weekend on Friday, April 12 with a 2 p.m. match against the ECU Pirates. The Bearcats will then conclude the regular season with a neutral site match against the UConn Huskies on Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m.
// FOLLOW THE TEAM
Stay connected with UC women's tennis on Facebook (GoBearcatsWTEN), Twitter (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Instagram (GoBearcatsWTEN).