Wednesday, 02/13/2013

KNOXVILLE - Despite earning its first doubles point of the season, the No. 25 University of Tennessee women's tennis team fell Friday afternoon to No. 16 University of Michigan 4-3 at the Varsity Tennis Center.

"We competed today," said co-head coach Mike Patrick. "Tiffany [Tavares], Jo [Joanna Henderson], and Kata [Szekely] battled in their matches, but they just outplayed us at one and three. We are not pleased with the outcome, but we played well, we played hard, and did some positive things so hopefully we can carry that over to Sunday's match at Notre Dame."

The Lady Vols got out to an early lead as 12th ranked Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely defeated No. 21 Brooke Bolender and Ronit Yurovsky 8-5 at No. 1 singles while No. 41 Caitlyn Williams and Joanna Henderson took down Sarah Lee and Mimi Nguyen 8-3 on court two.

Boren and Szekely's doubles victory over Bolender and Yurovsky was the second of the season for the duo as they took down the Michigan twosome back on Oct. 5 at the ITA All-American Championships.

Michigan took a lead of their own as Bolender defeated Williams at No. 3 singles 6-1, 6-3 to begin singles play followed by an Emina Bektas victory at No. 1 singles over Boren, 6-4, 6-1.

The Wolverines extended their lead as No. 25 Szekely fell at No. 2 singles to No. 61 Yurovsky in a tough 7-6 (6), 6-4 battle and clinched the win as Lee defeated Henderson at No. 4 singles in a three set battle 4-6, 6-0, 6-4.

The Lady Vols did capture the victories at No. 5 and No. 6 singles as Mimi Fotopoulos returned at the five-spot for the win while Tiffany Tavares bested No. 94 Amy Zhu in a comeback 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory, her first win over a ranked opponent.

The Lady Vols will look to bounce back when they head to No. 18 Notre Dame on Sunday, February 3 in a match that will begin at 9:00 a.m.

No. 16 Michigan vs. No. 25 Tennessee
Singles
No. 1 -- Emina Bektas (U-M) d. No. 23 Brynn Boren (UT), 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 - No. 61 Ronit Yurovsky (U-M) d. No. 25 Kata Szekely (UT), 7-6 (6), 6-4
No. 3 -- Brooke Bolender (U-M) d. Caitlyn Williams (UT), 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 -- Sarah Lee (U-M) d. Joanna Henderson (UT), 4-6, 6-0, 6-4
No. 5 -- Mimi Fotopoulous (UT) d. Mimi Nguyen (U-M), 6-7 (5), retired
No. 6 -- Tiffany Tavares (UT) d. No. 94 Amy Zhu (U-M), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

Doubles
No. 1 - No. 12 Brynn Boren/Kata Szekely (UT) d. No. 21 Brooke Bolender/Ronit Yurovsky (U-M), 8-5
No. 2 - No. 41 Caitlyn Williams/Joanna Henderson (UT) d. Sarah Lee/Mimi Nguyen (U-M), 8-3
No. 3 -- Emina Bektas/Kristen Dodge (U-M) d. Sarah Toti/Jesse Grace (UT), 8-2

Order of Completion: Doubles 3-2-1 ; Singles 3-1-2-4-5-6