Saturday, 02/16/2013

KNOXVILLE - A three-set battle by Joanna Henderson on court four sealed the victory for the No. 25 University of Tennessee women's tennis team as they handed No. 54 Indiana its first loss of the season 4-3 Friday night at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

Henderson battled from down 4-3 to tie the game up at four-all, break the serve of her opponent Sophie Garre, and go on to serve for the victory.

The Lady Vols earned their first win of the season (1-4), improved their series lead to 18-13 over the Hoosiers and extended its home win-streak over Indiana (8-1) to 10 games.

"It was a great feeling getting the win tonight," said co-head coach Sonia Hahn-Patrick. "We have played hard this year against some tough teams and to finally get the victory was just a great thing for this team."

The Lady Vols started the night off slowly, and for the fourth time this season, dropped the doubles point to begin the match, but it didn't come easily to Indiana.

Caitlyn Williams and Joanna Henderson fell 8-5 on court two to start things, but the third-ranked doubles tandem of Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely evened things out at one-all with an 8-5 defeat over the No. 44 team of Sophie Garre and Leslie Hureau to win their fourth-straight match.

It all came down to court three and although Sarah Toti and Mimi Fotopoulos battled, they were just edged by the Indiana duo of Alecia Kauss and Shannon Murdy who earned the 9-7 win and the doubles point.

In singles, No. 18 Boren rolled to a 6-0, 1-0 (inj.) victory over Hureau to tie everything up at one. Hureau retired due to an injury, but Boren was on a roll and likely would have earned the win regardless.

No. 34 Szekely helped add to the Lady Vols' lead when she took down Katie Klyzcek 6-2, 6-1 on court two. The Hoosiers tied it up at two-all when Shannon Murdy defeated Sarah Toti 6-0, 6-3. The match marked Toti's first singles match back in dual play since tearing her ACL last March.

Indiana regained the lead when Carolyn Chupa defeated Fotopoulos in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, despite the best efforts of the Tennessee freshman.

However, Williams battled to earn her first singles match of the dual season with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over Alecia Kauss to even things up at three in a match that came down to No. 4 singles, setting up the win for Henderson.

Williams took home the first set win, and looked as though she might drop the second set down 5-6, love-30 in the second set. But Williams rebounded, responded and came away with the win.

On court four, after dropping the first set of the day 3-6, Henderson forced a third set with a 6-1 second frame victory. The sophomore, who improved to 3-1 on the year in three-set matches earned her come-from-behind three set win.

The Lady Vols hope to continue the momentum when they yreturn to action on Sunday, February 17 at 1 p.m. closing the weekend out with a home match against another Big 10 opponent in No. 55 Ohio State at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.

Tennis Match Results
Indiana vs Tennessee
Feb 15, 2013 at Knoxville, Tenn.
(Goodfriend Tennis Center)
#25 Tennessee 4, #54 Indiana 3

Singles competition
1. #18 Brynn Boren (UT) def. Leslie Hureau (IU) 6-0, 1-0, retired
2. #34 Kata Szekely (UT) def. Katie Klyczek (IU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Caitlyn Williams (UT) def. Alecia Kauss (IU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Joanna Henderson (UT) def. Sophie Garre (IU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
5. Carolyn Chupa (IU) def. Mimi Fotopoulos (UT) 6-3, 6-4
6. Shannon Murdy (IU) def. Sarah Toti (UT) 6-0, 6-3

Doubles competition
1. #3 Brynn Boren/Kata Szekely (UT) def. #44 Sophie Garre/Leslie Hureau (IU) 8-5
2. Carolyn Chupa/Katie Klyczek (IU) def. Joanna Henderson/Caitlyn Williams (UT) 8-5
3. Alecia Kauss/Shannon Murdy (IU) def. Sarah Toti/Mimi Fotopoulos (UT) 9-7

Match Notes:
Indiana 8-1; National ranking #54
Tennessee 1-4; National ranking #25
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,2,6,5,3,4)