The Miami University women's tennis team headed into the weekend hoping to make their last home contest of the season a special one, and looking to continue their recent dominance in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play.
The RedHawks hosted Big East foe Louisville Friday afternoon at the Hepburn Varsity Courts, and then headed to Ball State University (BSU) Saturday, continuing their streak of six straight away matches to end the MAC season.
"It was good to see the team playing well in both doubles and singles," Head Coach Ricardo Rosas said. "We need to keep working hard because we are going to be challenged and need to come ready to play for every match this season."
On Friday, junior Megan Martzolf extended her unbeaten streak at No. 3 singles this spring to 16 games with a 6-0, 6-4 win. In the No. 1 singles spot, junior Anastasia Dracheva posted a solid 6-2, 6-3 win. Although hanging tough with the Cardinals, Louisville took the points after junior Cara Wald and sophomore Riekie Honiball both lost in three sets at the No. 3 and No. 5 spots.
Louisville captured the doubles points with 8-5 wins at both the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Miami won at No. 3 doubles, when Dracheva and junior Sydnee Bridger posted an 8-2 win. The Red and White dropped the match 5-2 to fall to 10-6 on the season.
After falling to Louisville, the 'Hawks got back on track Saturday at BSU, increasing their overall record to 11-6 and their MAC record to 3-0 after a 6-1 win over the Cardinals. Martzolf extended her record to 17-0 this spring with a 6-1, 6-1 victory at No. 3 singles, and Dracheva, Honiball, Wald and sophomore Stephanie Danesis also won for the RedHawks, who took five out the six singles matches from BSU.
Miami swept the doubles competition, with Honiball and Wald cruised to an 8-1 win at No. 2 singles to give the 'Hawks an early 1-0 lead. The pairs of Martzolf-Danesis and Dracheva-Bridger each won 8-4 at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles respectively to put the match away for Miami.
"This weekend was a good start for our conference matches," Martzolf said. "We played two good teams this weekend, and we are very excited for the rest of our season. Now we have to keep working hard every day."
The RedHawks round out the season with four away contests, the first two coming next Friday and Saturday against Buffalo and Akron, before heading to Eastern Michigan University and University of Toledo the following weekend.
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