College Tennis News - Tribe Falls in Hard-Fought Match to #33 Ohio State, 5-2

Williamsburg, Va. (2/5/10) - The No. 50-ranked William and Mary women’s tennis team dropped a hard-fought, four-hour and 10-minute match on Friday at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center, falling to the No. 33-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, 5-2. With the loss, the College’s record on the season falls to 3-3, while OSU improved to 7-1 on the year.

In No. 2 doubles action, the Tribe duo of senior Carmen Pop and freshman Anik Cepeda improved their record to 9-4 on the year beating the Buckeyes’ team of Escobedo and Keesey, 8-6. The Green and Gold pair trailed 6-2, but won six straight games to claim the match.

In singles action, Pop kept up her winning ways, winning the No. 4 singles match over Kelsey Haviland, 6-2, 7-6 (5). The victory was Pop’s third consecutive win and moved her record on the season to 10-7.

Also earning a singles win was freshman Marlen Mesgarzadeh, who earned a victory in the No. 3 singles match. After dropping the first set, 6-1, Mesgarzadeh charged back to win the second in comeback fashion, winning the second set in an epic tiebreaker, 7-6 (11), over Christina Keesey. She won the third set, 6-2, to move her record to 9-4 on the season.

Next up for the No. 50-ranked Tribe will be a match with No. 28-ranked Florida International on Saturday, February 13 at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. The match will get underway at 3 p.m.

#33 Ohio State 5, #50 William and Mary 2
Singles
No. 1 – #35 Kirsten Flower (OSU) def. Ragini Acharya (W&M) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 – Paloma Escobedo (OSU) def. Nina Vulovich (W&M) – 6-1, 2-6, 6-3
No. 3 – Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) def. Christina Keesey (OSU) – 1-6, 7-6 (11), 6-2
No. 4 – Carmen Pop (W&M) def. Kelsey Haviland (OSU) – 6-2, 7-6(5)
No. 5 – Gabby Steele (OSU) def. Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) – 3-6, 7-5, 10-3
No. 6 – Fidan Manashirova (OSU) def. Anik Cepeda (W&M) – 6-3, 6-0
Finishing Order: 6, 1, 3, 2*, 4, 5

Doubles
No. 1 – Haviland/Hubbs (OSU) def. Acharya/Sabacinski (W&M) – 8-2
No. 2 – Cepeda/Pop (W&M) def. Escobedo/Keesey (OSU) – 8-6
No. 3 – Manashirova/Steele (OSU) def. Kargl/Mesgarzadeh (W&M) – 8-5
Finishing Order: 1, 3*, 2