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'Hawks handle Bulls and Zips at home

Jordan Rinard, Staff Writer

The Miami University women's tennis team avenged its loss to Ball State University last weekend and put itself back in the thick of things in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) standings as it earned 6-1 wins over the University at Buffalo and the University of Akron. The RedHawks (6-12, 2-1 MAC) won back-to-back matches for the first time all season and ended a six-match skid. They also handed Buffalo (10-1, 1-1 MAC) its first defeat of the season, got a win over Akron (14-7, 2-1 MAC) for the 21st consecutive time in the regular season and rectified a 3-4 loss to the Zips in the finals of the 2012 MAC Tournament.

"We're very proud of the girls this weekend," assistant coach Ricardo Rosas said. "We faced tough opponents in Buffalo and Akron and we trusted our game plan. We brought our passion, hunger, and desire to compete this weekend, which is something we have to do in every single match in this conference."

Miami started off the match against the Bulls by sweeping the doubles matches for the second time this season. The team of junior Nimisha Mohan and sophomore Alix Thurman downed junior Anamaria Candanoza and freshman Gopika Kapoor 8-1, while sophomore Christine Guerrazzi and freshman Ana Rajkovic got the 8-4 win over juniors Miranda Podlas and Tanvi Shah to earn the doubles point, which snapped a six-match streak of losing the point. The tandem of juniors Christiana Raymond and Ramona Costea finished the sweep with an 8-6 victory over junior Marta Stoyanova and sophomore Laura Fernandez.

The Red and White made quick work of Buffalo, as they would take five of the six matches in singles. To start, Raymond would drop Fernandez 6-1, 6-0 and Costea defeated Stoyanova 6-2, 6-1. Thurman would clinch the match for the 'Hawks as she earned a 6-2, 6-2 win against Markovic. Mohan and Guerrazzi would pick up the last two wins for the RedHawks as they triumphed 6-4, 6-2 and 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) over Podlas and Candanoza, respectively. To round out the match, Rajkovic fell to Kapoor 4-6, 5-7 in a hard fought match.

Against Akron in doubles, Guerrazzi and Rajkovic were defeated 1-8 by seniors Angelina Jogasuria and Prang Pantusart. The RedHawks would rebound, however, as the duos of Mohan and Thurman along with Raymond and Costea earned 8-2 and 8-4 victories over freshman Madison Cohen and senior Angelika Jogasuria and junior Ksenia Berestetska and senior Olga Shkundina, respectively, to pick up the doubles point in consecutive matches for the second time this season.

Miami continued to roll in singles as Mohan, Guerrazzi and Costea each picked up wins in two sets to take the match, defeating Shkundina 6-0, 6-4, Angelika Jogasuria 6-2, 6-2, and Cohen 6-4, 6-2, respectively. Thurman and Raymond earned the final points of the match for the 'Hawks after downing Angelina Jogasuria and Pantusart 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5) and 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8), respectively. Rajkovic was close to finishing the sweep once again but ultimately fell in three sets to Berestetska 6-2, 6-7 (7-9), 1-0 (10-5).

"Getting the doubles point in both matches helped us to gain the momentum for singles," Guerrazzi said. "Especially against Akron, which in the past have been a rival for us, winning the doubles point was a huge confidence boost. Although after winning the doubles point it can be easy to relax in singles, we instead all went out there with the willingness to fight. I am excited for our matches next weekend. I would like to bring out that fighting mentality for the rest of the season and as we head into our last home matches."

The RedHawks will wrap up the home portion of their regular season schedule when they host Eastern Michigan University 1 p.m. Friday and the University of Toledo 1 p.m. Saturday.


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