PENSACOLA, Fla. – The West Florida women’s tennis team (6-0, 1-0 GSC), ranked No. 6 in Division II, stayed perfect with a 6-1 win over Division I Tennessee Tech (1-3) on Thursday at the Ralph “Skeeter” Carson Complex. UWF did not have trouble to defeat the Golden Eagles, as the Argonauts only dropped one singles match.
The match was played under Division I rules, a seven point format in which the team that reaches four points is declared the winner. In these rules, only one point is earned by the three doubles matches, instead of the three points from the Division II rules.
The Argonauts earned the one point lead after sweeping doubles action. In the third doubles spot, Caitlyn Baines (freshman/Panama City Beach, Fla.) and Taylor Brewster (sophomore/Ontaro, Canada) dropped a single game in their 8-1 win over Joanna Corkern and Laura Porras. Argonauts Renata Mattos (senior/ Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Yana Bokareva (sophomore/Moscow, Russia) defeated 8-4 Evgenia Yartseva and Alena Krutkina in the second spot. To round up the doubles action, No. 24 Suzana Cavalcante (senior/Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Paulina Ojeda (sophomore/Santiago, Chile) battled to defeat 8-5 Katie Barnhill and Kelly Holtzhausen in the first slot, giving the Argonauts the 1-0 lead entering the singles play.
In singles the Argonauts also dominated the Bulldogs, winning five of the six matches played. Playing in the second slot, Ojeda did not lose a game in one of the sets, defeating Kelly Holtzhausen 6-0, 6-2. The Golden Eagles responded with their lone win when Barnhill defeated Bokareva by also applying a perfect set in her 6-0, 6-3 victory in the first slot. In the sixth spot, Naomi Higa was pushed to a long second set to defeat Yartseva 6-2, 7-5. Brewster defeated the Golden Eagles’ fourth player Krutnika 6-4, 6-3. Mattos battled through two tough sets to beat Tatiana Denezhkina 7-5, 6-4. In the fifth singles slot, Baines had to rally through a set down to come back and defeat Porras in a third set super tiebreak. Baines’ 1-6, 7-6, 10-3 victory sealed the match, giving the Argonauts a 6-1 win.
“This was probably our toughest match this season so far, and it came at a great time. It got us ready and confident for the big weekend coming ahead,” said UWF Assistant Coach Gui Jasmin. “Tennessee Tech is a great team, but we came out with the victory, so winning today boosts our confidence that, if we play our best tennis, we can upset Lynn and Valdosta this weekend”.
West Florida will next travel to Valdosta, where it will face three regional opponents, including two GSC rivals. On Saturday, March 14, the Argonauts will face No. 4 Lynn (9-0) at 10:00 am and Alabama-Huntsville (2-2, 0-0 GSC) at 6:00 pm. On Sunday, March 15, the Argos will take on No. 3 Valdosta State (4-1, 1-0 GSC) at their home courts at 11:00 am. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
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