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Providence College Athletics
Women's Tennis Triumphs Over Marist, 4-3
2/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 20, 2016
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Providence College women's tennis team earned their second victory of the spring season with a 4-3 triumph over the Marist Red Foxes on Friday, Feb. 19 in Providence R.I. The Friars captured the doubles point and three of the first four singles match in order to seal the team victory.
The first match off the court came out of third doubles, as senior Hannah Zangari and sophomore Nicole Cyterski quickly wrapped up a 6-1 victory over Callie Morlock and Sophia Mueller.
"We located our serves really well and made some volleys" Zangari said after the match.
"I thought our lobs set us up to be aggressive and put away a lot of shots at net," Cyterski added.
The win was the first of the spring season for Zangari and Cyterski.
The score in doubles was leveled at ones when the Friars' first doubles team of sophomore Emma Burgess and senior Alana Prinos dropped a 6-3 decision to Karly Pang and Chloe Lant. The pair fell to 0-3 on the spring season.
The Friars salvaged the doubles point when juniors Jenn DeLuca and Amanda Pitocco captured a 7-6 (3) win over Caroline Lozo and Ariel Shulman in the second doubles match. Despite falling behind 1-3 to start the match, the tandem battled back to take a 5-4 lead in a game that featured two forehand volley winners from Pitocco and was finished off with a forehand winner from DeLuca. Marist battled back to take a 6-5 advantage, but DeLuca and Pitocco tied the score at six games apiece to force the decisive tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, DeLuca and Pitocco jumped out to a 6-2 lead behind two forehand winners from DeLuca and two volley winners from Pitocco. The duo clinched the match and the overall doubles point when Pitocco forced an errant volley from Shulman, giving the Friars' second doubles team the 7-6 (3) victory.
Marist tied the overall match score at one when Lant defeated Cyterksi by a score of 6-0, 6-2 in the third singles match. However, the Friars quickly regained the lead by way of freshman Risa Takenaka's 6-1, 6-0 victory over Lizzie Brozovich out of sixth singles. Takenaka dominated from start to finish behind a barrage of inside out forehands, consistent baseline play, and strong volleys.
"I think I was able to keep her on the defensive throughout the match which allowed me to use a lot of angles on my groundstrokes," Takenaka said after the match. "She was really consistent, but I just tried not to let up during the points and I think that worked well for me."
The triumph was the first victory of the spring season for the freshman.
"Risa makes it extremely difficult on her opponents with her consistency and her speed," Coach Rebecca Ricci said. "I'm extremely proud of her ability to step into the lineup as a freshman and score such a convincing win over a very solid opponent."
The Friars soon increased their lead when Prinos polished off a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2 win in the first singles match over Pang. The senior maintained a one game lead throughout the first set before finishing it off by a score of 6-3. Prinos cruised through the second set en route to her second win of the spring season.
"Pang is a very consistent player, but I thought that Alana did a terrific job of stepping up inside the baseline and controlling rallies," Ricci said after the match. "It was another impressive, workman-like performance from her."
With a 3-1 lead in hand, the Friars clinched the victory with Burgess' 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory over Shulman. The sophomore wrapped up the first set within a half hour, but she fell behind 0-4 to start the second set. It was at that point that Burgess' competitive fire surfaced, as she reeled off six of the next eight games to force a second set tiebreaker. In the contentious tiebreaker, Shulman and Burgess battled back and forth before the Friars' sophomore took the last three points of the frame to seal a straight sets triumph.
"I thought that Emma's location of her groundstrokes was the key to the match," Ricci said. "She forced Shulman to have to make difficult shots in order to win, and I was happy to see how determined Emma was to win the second set."
"It killed me to fall behind 0-4 in the second set, but I just stayed confident that I would be able to come back and get the win," Burgess noted. "I stuck with it, didn't give up, and that's the Friar way."
The win was Burgess' first singles victory of the spring season.
Marist fought back to take the final two matches of the evening, both of which went the full three sets, to make the final score 4-3 in favor of the Friars. Pitocco fell by a score of 6-4, 3-6, (10-4) to Claire Schmitz, and DeLuca dropped the final match of the day 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 to Lozo.
The victory improved the Friars spring season record to 2-1, with a 5-2 overall mark on the year. The Friars will face a quick turnaround, as they travel across town on Saturday morning Feb. 20 to face the Brown Bears at the Pizzitola Center at 11 a.m.
-Go Friars!-
Players Mentioned
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