Stephen F. Austin
UTSA
Ladyjacks Sweep Alamo City Doubleheader
3/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Stephen F. Austin 6, Incarnate Word 1
Mabry Tennis Center • San Antonio, Texas
Records: SFA (7-4, 2-0 SLC); UIW (2-13, 0-2 SLC)
Stephen F. Austin 4, UT-San Antonio 2
UTSA Tennis Center • San Antonio, Texas
Records: SFA (8-4); UTSA (8-7)
Up Next: at Cincinnati • Wednesday, March 18 • 1:00 p.m.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Stephen F. Austin completed the Alamo City sweep Sunday, knocking off crosstown foes Incarnate Word and UT-San Antonio. With the victories, SFA improves to 8-4 on the year and 2-0 in Southland Conference play.
"I just can't say enough how proud I am of the girls for reacting in such a positive way to the challenge, and sure enough, they surprised themselves today," said head coach Roberto Aspillaga. "We went in all beaten up, without our number one player, and beat a very tough UTSA at their home courts."
The Ladyjacks opened up the day with a morning bout with Southland Conference rival Incarnate Word. SFA took two of the three doubles matches, earning the first point of the match for the Ladyjacks, setting up what proved to be a dominating singles performance.
The Ladyjacks took five of the six singles matches, winning them all in straight sets. The lone blemish on the day for SFA was in the No. 1 singles as Malena Gordo was unable to finish the match, retiring after the first three points.
But the performances of the other five Ladyjacks was enough to spark SFA to the 6-1 win over the Cardinals. No. 6 Julia Lorca highlighted the singles portion for SFA, earning a 6-1, 6-0 decision, with both No. 2 Denise Maxl and No. 4 Valeria Terentyeva notching 6-1, 6-2 victories.
"Having beat the conference champ yesterday in such a convincing way with half a team under the weather was an incredible achievement by itself," Aspillaga said. "We came in late to San Antonio and the girls were quite beaten up. It was not difficult to find motivation to beat Incarnate Word, since we know now that we are in the driver seat to get a conference title."
The Ladyjacks then traveled across town to UT-San Antonio for a non-conference bout against the Roadrunners. SFA downed UTSA 4-2, led off by the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles recording wins to guide the Ladyjacks to the early point.
Despite winning the doubles point, SFA had a hard time shaking the Roadrunners, building a narrow 3-2 lead following losses from No. 1 Denise Maxl (6-2, 6-1) and No. 5 Macarena Sedano Acosta (6-2, 6-3) and victories from No. 6 Julia Lorca (6-2, 6-1) and No. 2 Dhanielly Quevedo (7-5, 6-4). But No. 3 Vivienne Kulicke notched the 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win to seal the match for the Ladyjacks, leaving No. 4 Valeria Terentyeva's match unfinished tied 5-5 in the second.
"The challenge was to get over all the sickness and fatigue and beat a good UTSA the very same day," Aspillaga said. "We told the girls this was an incredible opportunity, since we are going to have to do this again if we want to win it all this year. If we can find the strength to overcome this last obstacle this weekend, we could always look back at this point of the season for strength and confidence."
SFA now sweeps its three-game weekend road trip but will remain on the road for one more match. The Ladyjacks head to Cincinnati, Ohio, for a battle with the Bearcats on Wednesday, March 18, getting underway at 1 p.m.
Stephen F. Austin 6, Incarnate Word 1
Singles competition
1. Rachel Sadiq (UIW) def. Malena Gordo (SFA) 2-1, retired
2. Denise Maxl (SFA) def. Matea Zemunik (UIW) 6-2, 6-1
3. Vivienne Kulicke (SFA) def. Sarah Savedra (UIW) 6-2, 6-2
4. Valeria Terentyeva (SFA) def. Malisa Vatanadilok (UIW) 6-1, 6-2
5. Macarena Acosta (SFA) def. Maria Batchinsky (UIW) 6-3, 6-1
6. Julia Lorca (SFA) def. Brianah Creek (UIW) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Malena Gordo/Dhanielly Quevedo (SFA) def. Rachel Sadiq/Sarah Savedra (UIW) 8-4
2. Matea Zemunik/Antea Dedic (UIW) vs. Denise Maxl/Macarena Acosta (SFA) 6-6, unfinished
3. Valeria Terentyeva/Vivienne Kulicke (SFA) def. Malisa Vatanadilok/Maria Batchinsky (UIW) 8-5
Stephen F. Austin 4, UT-San Antonio 2
Singles
1. Miriam Rosell Canudas (UTSA) def. Denise Maxl (SFA) 6-2, 6-1
2. Dhanielly Quevedo (SFA) def. Jacobea Junger (UTSA) 7-5, 6-4
3. Vivienne Kulicke (SFA) def. Alena Shichkova (UTSA) 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Nicole Karaklis (UTSA) vs. Valeria Terentyeva (SFA) 6-4, 5-5, unfinished
5. Lina Hallgren (UTSA) def. M. Sedano Acosta (SFA) 6-2, 6-3
6. Julia Lorca (SFA) def. Irene Gandara Gonzalez (UTSA) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. Junger/Rosell Canudas (UTSA) def. Maxl/Sedano Acosta (SFA) 8-3
2. Kulicke/Terentyeva (SFA) def. Karaklis/Shichkova (UTSA) 8-6
3. Lorca/Quevedo (SFA) def. Garcia-Diaz/Hallgren (UTSA) 8-6
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
