Dominating on the road is the way every team likes to start its conference schedule. The women's tennis team did just that, rolling over its opponents on their home courts over the weekend.
Buffalo went into their first two Mid-American Conference matches with high expectations after finishing as runners-up in last year's conference tournament.
"We wanted to send a message that we were going to dominate," said Bulls head coach Kathy Twist. "Everybody went out there with the idea that they were going to win all six singles matches."
The Bulls (10-1, 2-0 MAC) played at Ball State (5-7, 0-1 MAC) on Friday afternoon, defeating the Cardinals 6-1.
Buffalo opened the match by taking two of three doubles matches to earn the doubles point. Freshman Denise Harijanto and junior Andreea Novaceanu cruised past Haly Calderwood and Sophie Quist, 8-2.
Seniors Miglena Nenova and Natalie Dean defeated Jennifer Pollack and Christine Stromberg, 8-4. With the doubles point already secured, juniors Tina Jacob and Smaranda Stan did not go down easy. However, they were barely defeated by Emma Retter and Katherine Rist in the final doubles match, 8-7 (4).
The Cardinals showed little resistance in singles play, as the Bulls won five of six matches. Each Buffalo victory came in straight sets. Nenova easily downed Quist (6-1, 6-3). Harijanto won over Calderwood (6-1, 6-2). Novaceanu also only dropped three games as she defeated Pollack (6-3, 6-0). At No. 6, senior Katrin Fischer won both sets soundly (6-2, 6-2).
Stan controlled the first set versus Retter, but the second set went to a tiebreak. Stan won the tiebreak and the match, 6-1, 7-6 (5). Dean was the only player from Buffalo to lose her singles match. After she split her first two sets with Stromberg, a super tie-breaker was played since the match was already won by the Bulls. Stromberg was able to pull out the victory, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (12-10).
With much of the conference schedule still ahead, beginning MAC play was a good learning experience for the Bulls.
"The MAC is very strong," Twist said. "You always want to see where you are. Win or lose, you need to learn something from every match that you play."
On Saturday afternoon, the Bulls traveled to face the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks (7-9, 1-1). Miami was fresh off of sweeping the Akron Zips the day before, 7-0.
In doubles play, Harijanto and Novaceanu overpowered their opponents again, as they won over Katrina Lomidze and Linda Jirouskova, 8-2. Nenova and Dean won over Leda Pesatova and Victoria Pulido by the same score.
In the third doubles match, Jacob was paired with Fischer this time, but the two were defeated by Kristen McPhillips and Kelly Douple, 8-3. However, the Bulls again took the doubles point, taking two of the three matches.
"The key to both matches was to get the doubles point," Twist said. "You're up one point already. You're a little bit ahead of the game."
Nenova increased her record for career singles victories at Buffalo to 64 with a victory over Lomidze (6-0, ret.). Harijanto defeated Pesatova, winning by an identical score to her match the previous day (6-1, 6-2).
Novaceanu lost the first set, but fought back to overcome Jirouskova in three sets, (5-7, 6-1, 7-5). Dean emerged victorious in a three-set match with McPhillips (6-3, 2-6, 7-5).
"With Natalie Dean, she played a tough three-setter," Twist said. "She was down 5-2 and came back to win 7-5. Mentally, we're pretty strong. The girls know how to fight."
No. 5 Stan and No. 6 Jacob suffered losses to Pulido and Douple respectively (6-3, 7-5 and 7-5, 0-6, 6-4). The two losses simply meant that the RedHawks only lost by three, as the Bulls won the match 5-2.
From the matches, Twist was able to see what the team could improve on in practice.
"We need to work at getting more depth on the ball," Twist said. "We need to push them back further so we can attack them."
After the two victories, the Bulls remain confident for the rest of conference play.
"We've been waiting to play the MAC," Twist said. "We feel ready. We know we're a good team. We just need to stay focused and we're going to be fine."
The Bulls return home for two matches next weekend. They face Bowling Green on Friday and Western Michigan on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled for 1 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
