Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (4/26/2015) -- The University of Detroit Mercy women's tennis team is heading to the Horizon League Championship match as the Titans won a late-night thriller, 4-3, over Cleveland State in the semifinals early Sunday morning.
 
The match, originally scheduled for 3:00 p.m., did not start until 9 o'clock at night due to the tournament being moved indoors. When it did start, it was worth the wait as the Titans and Vikings put on a display of tennis, perseverance and fortitude that ended at 1:38 a.m. 
 
The victory was the 16th on the year for Detroit – a new school record. UDM will make its third Horizon League Championship final in school history as the red, white and blue made back-to-back appearances in 2009 and 2010, falling to UIC on both occasions. This time, the Titans will look for their first-ever championship against top-seeded Youngstown State.
 
It all came down to No. 6 singles as sophomore Nynke Van Der Goot and Jana Schober exchanged wins in the first two sets. Van Der Goot lost the first set, 6-3, and was trailing in the second when she started a late rally, eventually winning 7-5 and sending it to a third set.
 
The third set then went the distance too and into the tiebreaker. Van Der Goot took the early advantage opening a 4-1 lead, but Schober came back to knot it at 5-5. Van Der Goot composed herself and was able to put Schober away winning the next two points and sending the Titans to the title bout.
 
The third-seeded Titans (16-8) played catch up from the start as fourth-seeded Cleveland State (9-14) claimed the doubles point. CSU won at No. 2, 6-1, but Detroit captured No. 3 doubles as junior Valeryia Kulikovskaya and freshman Sasha Nionova edged Mathilde Orange and Princess Gbadamosi, 7-5.
 
The doubles was hotly contested and it boiled down to No. 1, where junior Irina Slizovskaya and Davydova were upended, 7-5, forcing UDM into winning four singles matches.
 
Sophomore Anna Davydova – an All-Horizon League Second team selection - moved to 26-7 on the season with her 13th-straight win as she ousted HL second teamer Victoria Bensimon, 6-4, 6-4, at No. 3. The 26 wins ties her with assistant coach Annie Moore '09 and Zeljka Minic '08 for the school record.
 
Sophomore Viktoria Laskutova powered her way to a 6-4, 6-2 victory at No. 5 over Gbadamosi, but then Slizoskaya and Kulikovskaya both lost heartbreaking three-set affairs at No. 4 and No. 2, respectively.
 
It was a battle of top netters at No. 1 as Nionova had to go three sets before finally dispatching the All-HL Second Team honoree Orange, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4. It was her ninth win in the last 11 matches for the HL Freshman of the Year.
 
The championship match against Youngstown State is set for 3:00 p.m., on Sunday, April 26, and it will be streamed live on ESPN3. YSU defeated UDM, 5-2, back in late march.