TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati tennis program claimed its 500th win Sunday afternoon at the Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center to cap off the regular season.
Cassie McLay awarded the Bearcats (6-9) the 4-3 victory after edging out a third set stunner as they gear up for the American Athletic Conference Championship this Thursday-Sunday, April 22-25.
THE BREAKDOWN
After dropping the early doubles point to the Lady Toppers (7-13), Cincinnati pulled together some momentum of its own to kick of singles play, claiming the first two singles matches to take an early 2-1 advantage.
Leading the charge was Emma Miceli who has found her stride entering the second half of the season. Miceli claimed the quickest finish of the day posting a strong two set sweep (6-0, 6-2) to level the score 1-1 for the Bearcats.
Over on court three Maria Santilli quickly got to work, claiming a two-set sweep of her own on a dominating (6-3, 6-0) performance in efforts to reclaim some momentum in favor of the Bearcats.
WKU evened the overall score at two after the Lady Topper's Lisa Friess secured a two-set sweep over Alexia Coutino back on court six. Coutino fought through the first set when a tiebreaking 7-6(4) victory gave Friess an early one-set lead. Friess held onto her momentum through the second-set and closed out her match on a 6-2 victory.
The match pressed on, battling back-and-forth through the remainder of the match, coming down to a final last-ditch effort by McLay to secure the victory for the Bearcats. WKU's Laura Bernardos forced a third set decision after giving up the first set to McLay 6-4 and rallying in the second set, securing it 7-5. Bernardo didn't let up to start the third set but McClay overcame a 4-5 deficit to keep UC in the game. Held at 6-6, McLay put the match away on 7-6(4) stunner to award the Bearcats their third straight win and its 500th all-time program win.
TOTH ON THE MATCH
"An exciting way to capture the program's 500th win. Our Bearcat Alumni and former coaches should take a lot of pride in this accomplishment since everyone that has been a Bearcat has had a part in the program's success. And our current team should be happy that they were the team that made history today. The way we have won our last two matches should give our team a lot of confidence heading into our conference tournament next week. Next Thursday we are going to be playing another very good team and we are going to have to continue to compete and execute when it matters most in order to advance."
UP NEXT
The Bearcats are slated to compete in the AAC Championship this Thursday-Sunday, April 22-25. More information about opponents and start times will be released later this week.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati tennis, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Head Coach Eric Toth (@EricToth1) on Twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Instagram and Facebook
RESULTS
WKU vs Cincinnati
4/18/2021 at Cincinnati, Ohio
(Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center)
Cincinnati 4, WKU 3
SINGLES
1. Ioana Guna (CIN) def. Cora-Lynn vonDungern (WKU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
2. Cassie McLay (CIN) def. Laura Bernardos (WKU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4)
3. Maria Santilli (CIN) def. Samantha Martinez (WKU) 6-3, 6-0
4. Emma Miceli (CIN) def. Lauren Joch (WKU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Tristen Bryant-Otake (WKU) def. Kelli Niehaus (CIN) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
6. Lisa Friess (WKU) def. Alexia Coutino (CIN) 7-6 (4), 6-2
DOUBLES
1. Lisa Friess/Cora-Lynn vonDungern (WKU) def. Alexia Coutino/Cassie McLay (CIN) 6-2
2. Laura Bernardos/Samantha Martinez (WKU) def. Kim Gintrand/Ioana Guna (CIN) 6-3
3. Emma Miceli/Kelli Niehaus (CIN) def. Tristen Bryant-Otake/Lauren Joch (WKU) 6-2
MATCH NOTES
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,3,6,1,5,2)
Cassie McLay awarded the Bearcats (6-9) the 4-3 victory after edging out a third set stunner as they gear up for the American Athletic Conference Championship this Thursday-Sunday, April 22-25.
THE BREAKDOWN
After dropping the early doubles point to the Lady Toppers (7-13), Cincinnati pulled together some momentum of its own to kick of singles play, claiming the first two singles matches to take an early 2-1 advantage.
Leading the charge was Emma Miceli who has found her stride entering the second half of the season. Miceli claimed the quickest finish of the day posting a strong two set sweep (6-0, 6-2) to level the score 1-1 for the Bearcats.
Over on court three Maria Santilli quickly got to work, claiming a two-set sweep of her own on a dominating (6-3, 6-0) performance in efforts to reclaim some momentum in favor of the Bearcats.
WKU evened the overall score at two after the Lady Topper's Lisa Friess secured a two-set sweep over Alexia Coutino back on court six. Coutino fought through the first set when a tiebreaking 7-6(4) victory gave Friess an early one-set lead. Friess held onto her momentum through the second-set and closed out her match on a 6-2 victory.
The match pressed on, battling back-and-forth through the remainder of the match, coming down to a final last-ditch effort by McLay to secure the victory for the Bearcats. WKU's Laura Bernardos forced a third set decision after giving up the first set to McLay 6-4 and rallying in the second set, securing it 7-5. Bernardo didn't let up to start the third set but McClay overcame a 4-5 deficit to keep UC in the game. Held at 6-6, McLay put the match away on 7-6(4) stunner to award the Bearcats their third straight win and its 500th all-time program win.
TOTH ON THE MATCH
"An exciting way to capture the program's 500th win. Our Bearcat Alumni and former coaches should take a lot of pride in this accomplishment since everyone that has been a Bearcat has had a part in the program's success. And our current team should be happy that they were the team that made history today. The way we have won our last two matches should give our team a lot of confidence heading into our conference tournament next week. Next Thursday we are going to be playing another very good team and we are going to have to continue to compete and execute when it matters most in order to advance."
UP NEXT
The Bearcats are slated to compete in the AAC Championship this Thursday-Sunday, April 22-25. More information about opponents and start times will be released later this week.
FOLLOW THE BEARCATS
For all the latest information on Cincinnati tennis, please visit GoBEARCATS.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team (@GoBearcatsWTEN) and Head Coach Eric Toth (@EricToth1) on Twitter. You can also find the Bearcats on Instagram and Facebook
RESULTS
WKU vs Cincinnati
4/18/2021 at Cincinnati, Ohio
(Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center)
Cincinnati 4, WKU 3
SINGLES
1. Ioana Guna (CIN) def. Cora-Lynn vonDungern (WKU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
2. Cassie McLay (CIN) def. Laura Bernardos (WKU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4)
3. Maria Santilli (CIN) def. Samantha Martinez (WKU) 6-3, 6-0
4. Emma Miceli (CIN) def. Lauren Joch (WKU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Tristen Bryant-Otake (WKU) def. Kelli Niehaus (CIN) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
6. Lisa Friess (WKU) def. Alexia Coutino (CIN) 7-6 (4), 6-2
DOUBLES
1. Lisa Friess/Cora-Lynn vonDungern (WKU) def. Alexia Coutino/Cassie McLay (CIN) 6-2
2. Laura Bernardos/Samantha Martinez (WKU) def. Kim Gintrand/Ioana Guna (CIN) 6-3
3. Emma Miceli/Kelli Niehaus (CIN) def. Tristen Bryant-Otake/Lauren Joch (WKU) 6-2
MATCH NOTES
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,3,6,1,5,2)