SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (3/30/2014) -- Beginning with a strong performance in doubles, the University of Detroit Mercy women's tennis team rallied to a 4-3 victory over the Youngstown State Penguins Sunday at the Franklin Athletic Club.
Detroit (7-6, 2-2 Horizon League) dominated in doubles as sophomore
Valeryia Kulikovskaya and freshman
Anna Davydova won 8-1 at No. 3 doubles and sophomore
Irina Slizovskaya and senior
Julia Fernandes won 8-1 at No. 2 doubles over their Youngstown State (7-10, 2-1 HL) counterparts. With the win, Fernandes now leads the team in doubles wins in the dual-match season with a spiffy 11-2 mark.
"It was a great win for us, especially because we have had a slow start in the Horizon League," said UDM women's tennis head coach Pjotrs Necajevs. "Two tough losses made us stronger and we talked about the mistakes against Cleveland State and Milwaukee and the girls were able to fix it quickly. I was happy with the seniors stepping up with confident wins at five and six singles. Lera clinched the deciding point in the mental marathon match by staying very composed and confident. I am proud of the team today. We are moving in the right direction and ready to produce more wins."
Fernandes won the first singles match as she took it in straight sets. She won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 5 singles and moved UDM just two more singles wins away from a victory.
A setback at No. 1 singles for Detroit followed but Titan senior
Elena Strakhova won in straight sets at No. 6 singles taking down her opponent, 6-1, 6-2 pushing Detroit closer to the big Horizon League victory.
The last singles win did not come from the No. 2 or the No. 4 positions for Detroit as two more singles defeats knotted the match 3-3 bringing all eyes on the final singles match at No. 3 singles. Kulikovskaya from UDM and Annina Brendel from YSU were squaring off with each looking for the Horizon League victory for their respective teams.
The first set went to Kulikovskaya as the set went to a tiebreaker and Kulikovskaya won 7-6 (7-0) to take the early lead. The next set also went to a tiebreaker and ultimately went to Kulikovskaya who won 7-6 (7-2) to clinch the match for Detroit.
The next match for Detroit will be on April 5 at Wright State. Match time is yet to be determined.
