Bearcats Close Out Play at Hoosier Classic

CINCINNATI - The second fall event of the 2019-20 season came to a close Sunday for the University of Cincinnati women's tennis team with the Bearcats continuing to produce strong results on the courts at the Hoosier Classic hosted by Indiana in Bloomington, Ind. Overall, freshman Claire Koscielski led the charge as she was a perfect 3-0 in singles play and combined with fellow rookie Kelli Niehaus to post a 3-1 record in doubles as the Bearcats went 10-8 in singles and 8-4 in doubles over the course of the three days.

// TOTH TALKS
Following the action in Bloomington, Head Coach Eric Toth had this to say about the performance of his Bearcats over the weekend: 

"Overall, Coach Katarina Adamovic and I are pretty pleased with what we are seeing now that everyone has one weekend of play under their belts. The returning players are competing well and have gotten some nice early season results against some quality competition. The newcomers are producing as well and continue to acclimate themselves to their new environment. We are very early in the process and a lot of hard work will continue to be put in daily by each to get us ready for our home invitational in a couple of weekends."

// FAST START
Koscielski, playing in her first collegiate event, went 3-0 in singles play and dropped just one set before pulling out the victory on Day One. After winning 6-3, 1-6, 10-5 in her debut, she went on to win her next two matches in straight sets, downing Taylor Smith (Western Michigan), 6-0, 6-3, before defeating Zoe Klapman (MTSU), 6-3, 6-3. She and Niehaus also were 3-1 in doubles as the rookie duo were nearly perfect as well. After posting wins of 6-4 and 6-2, the duo fell to Marquette's team of Giulia Turconi and Milica Novakovic, 7-6, after dropping the tie-breaker, 10-8. They rebounded in their final match together with a 6-2 win over the Xavier duo of Natalie Moyer and Lauren Fitz-Randolph.

// ON THE BOARD
Both Niehaus and Sofia Bruno earned their first wins of their collegiate campaigns over the weekend. Niehaus not only was 3-1 in doubles with Koscielski, she also was 1-2 in singles as she won her first match of the weekend with a 6-2, 6-3 score. She nearly won her final match of the weekend, but ended up falling to Lee Barnard (MTSU), 6-7 (6), 6-4, 10-2.

Bruno posted an identical record as she teamed with Maria Santilli to go 3-1 in doubles while winning one of her three singles bouts. After falling in her first two singles matches of the weekend, she recorded her first collegiate singles victory Sunday as she downed Grace Whitney (Wright State) in a hard-fought 6-2, 5-7, 10-6 match. She and Santilli opened the weekend with a 6-0 win and followed that with a 6-4 victory. After suffering a 6-0 defeat of their own, they bounced back to take another 6-0 score, this time over Indiana's Xiaowei 'Rose' Hu and Alexandra Staiculescu in the finale.

// MORE IN PLAY
Emma Miceli and Alexia Coutino also played over the weekend and were doubles partners as well. Miceli was 2-1 in singles, winning her first match in straight sets before falling in straight sets Saturday. She bounced back Sunday to claim a 6-3, 3-6, 12-10 victory over Louisville's Maia Haumuller to cap the weekend. Coutino got off to a strong start with a straight-sets wins, but dropped her next two, including a tough 6-7 (4), 6-3, 10-3 decision Saturday. As a doubles pair, the duo went 2-2 on the weekend, opening and closing with a loss with a pair of wins between.

// NEXT SERVE
The Bearcats will take one week off from competition before returning to the courts October 11-12 when they play host to the UC/Pam Whitehead Invitational at the Talbert/Trabert Tennis Center on campus. Pairings and start times will be announced closer to the weekend of the event.

2019 Hoosier Classic
IU Varsity Tennis Courts • Bloomington, Ind.
September 28 • Day 2
SINGLES
Round Two (1-5)
Noelle Mauro (MTSU) def. Sofia Bruno, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
Muskan Gupta (MTSU) def. Alexia Coutino, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 10-3
Raven Neely (LOU) def. Maria Santilli, 6-4, 6-2
Claire Koscielski def. Taylor Smith (WMU), 6-0, 6-3
Lexi Kubas (IND) def. Emma Miceli, 7-6 (4), 6-4
Hunter Roper (XAV) def. Kelli Niehaus, 6-3, 6-0

DOUBLES
Round Three (1-2)
Femke Tjon-A-Joe/Kristina Tiraspolsky (WMU) def. Bruno/Santilli, 6-0
Giulia Turconi/Milica Novakovic (MARQ) def. Koscielski/Niehaus, 7-6 (8)
Coutino/Miceli def. Lee Barnard/Zani Barnard (MTSU), 7-6 (6)

Round Four (2-1)
Bruno/Santilli def. Xiaowei 'Rose' Hu/Alexandra Staiculescu (IND), 6-0
Koscielski/Niehaus def. Natalie Moyer/Lauren Fitz-Randolph (XU), 6-2
Rhea Verma/Maia Haumuller (LOU) def. Coutino/Miceli, 6-4

September 29 • Day 3
SINGLES
Round Three (4-2)
Claire Koscielski def. Zoe Klapman (MTSU), 6-3, 6-3
Lee Barnard (MTSU) def. Kelli Niehaus, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 10-2
Maria Santilli def. Caitlin Bernard (IND), 7-6 (2), 6-2
Emily Thomas (XU) def. Alexia Coutino, 6-2, 6-4
Sofia Bruno def. Grace Whitney (WSU), 6-2, 5-7, 10-6
Emma Miceli def. Maia Haumuller (LOU), 6-3, 3-6, 12-10