University of Washington
Washington State
Huskies Gut Out A 4-3 Win Over Cougars
March 13, 2011 | Women's Tennis
March 13, 2011
PULLMAN, Wash. - The Husky women's tennis team scored a desperately needed 4-3 victory over Washington State today in Pullman, finally ending an eight-match road trip on a very positive note. 20th-ranked Washington (9-7, 1-3 Pac-10) earned its first conference victory and snapped a three-match losing skid during which injuries had threatened to totally sap the great work UW did in the early part of the season.
The top half of the Huskies singles lineup came through when needed once again today, as it did in Friday's 4-3 defeat at Oregon, the difference today being that the Huskies were able to pull out the doubles point for just the sixth time this season. The new look lineup Washington employed on Friday, splitting the sixth-ranked team of Venise Chan and Denise Dy, worked well today.
Chan got her first doubles win with junior Samantha Smith at No. 1 doubles, defeating Liudmila Vasilieva and Ksenia Googe, 8-2. Dy then clinched the point with senior Aleksandra Krsljanin at second doubles, winning 8-4 over Andjela Kankaras and Olga Musilovich.
As they've done all season, Dy and Chan came through once again in singles play on Sunday. Chan got the clincher at second singles, as she overcame Vasilieva in two tough sets, 7-5, 7-6 (4). She won the final three points of the second set tiebreak to put the Cougars away. The 27th-ranked senior improved to 14-1 in dual play on the season, and earned the 91st singles win of her career, tying four-time All-American Claire Carter for third-most in school history.
Sixth-ranked Dy also pushed her dual singles record to 14-1 with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Fournier at No. 1 singles. Her only loss was in a third set super-tiebreak to second-ranked Maria Sanchez of USC in Los Angeles.
Smith came through with her second straight Pac-10 singles win to help the Huskies get over the top. The junior topped Ksenia Googe at third singles, 6-1, 6-4 for UW's first point in singles play.
The Cougars got straight set wins at the four through six spots in singles, two coming after Washington had clinched. Kankaras held off Krsljanin, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 4, Musilovich was a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Vanja Radunovic at fifth singles, and new walk-on Sianna May had a tough 6-0, 6-0 defeat to Jessica Gomez at No. 6.
Washington finally gets a chance to unpack this week as they break for finals and then begin a four-match homestand on March 21 against Portland.
Washington Women's Tennis
March 13, 2011 - Pullman, Wash.
Simmelink Tennis Courts
No. 20 Washington 4, Washington State 3
Doubles
2) Dy/Krsljanin (UW) def. Kankaras/Musilovich (WSU), 8-4
3) Jansen/Fournier (WSU) def. Radunovic/May (UW), 8-1
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1) (6) Denise Dy (UW) def. Elisabeth Fournier (WSU), 6-3, 6-4
2) (27) Venise Chan (UW) def. Liudmila Vasilieva (WSU), 7-5, 7-6 (4)
3) Samantha Smith (UW) def. Ksenia Googe (WSU), 6-1, 6-4
4) Andjela Kankaras (WSU) def. Aleksandra Krsljanin (UW), 6-2, 6-3
5) Olga Musilovich (WSU) def. Vanja Radunovic (UW), 6-1, 6-1
6) Jessica Gomez (WSU) def. Sianna May (UW), 6-0, 6-0
Order of finish: 4, 3, 1, 2, 6, 5
Players Mentioned
