After last year's Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championship, the women's tennis team vowed to come out this year and repeat their success. The team's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament was not enough to satisfy the Bulls' hunger.
Buffalo continued its road to another championship with another MAC win Saturday at the Village Glen Tennis Center, beating the Northern Illinois Huskies, 6-1.
The Bulls (10-3, 2-0 MAC) win over the Huskies (5-10, 1-3 MAC) marked Buffalo's best start in conference play since the 2006-07 season.
Buffalo came out of the gates strong and took the doubles point. The Bulls captured two of the three doubles matches, highlighted by an 8-0, shutout victory by the team composed of juniors Denise Harijanto and Diana Popescu. Harijanto and Popescu improved their record to 17-3 on the season.
Senior Smaranda Stan and junior Anna Subenkova also contributed in doubles play with an 8-3 victory.
The momentum gained in doubles play continued during the day's singles matches. Buffalo won five of the six singles contests. Each of the Bulls' victories came in straight sets.
Popescu continued her impressive Saturday performance with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Kathryn Friedland. The sophomore improved her singles record to 12-7 on the season.
Sophomore Aleksandra Petrova gave the Bulls a dominating performance of her own. She put the Bulls up 3-0 after she swept the Huskies' Brooke Foresberg, 6-3, 6-1.
Harijanto, Buffalo's No. 1 singles player, easily clinched Buffalo's ninth straight victory with a 6-0, 6-2 drubbing of Northern Illinois' Lillian Asuaje. Saturday's victory continued Harijanto's strong season, improving her record to 18-3 on the season.
Northern Illinois grabbed a victory after Harijanto's win, but the Bulls got right back on track when Stan took the court for her singles match. She increased Buffalo's lead to 5-1 with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Martina Schnapp of Northern Illinois. Stan's record improved to 16-7 after the sweep.
Subenkova capped the day off with another victory for the Bulls. She added another victory to her record after a tough 7-5, 7-6 (4) win over the Huskies' Sara McLaughlin. After going 2-5 in singles play last season, Subenkova continued her improved play and pushed her record to 11-7.
"It was a tough day, but we battled really well," said Northern Illinois head coach Ryun Ferrell in a press release. "...Buffalo is a very good squad and we laid it all on the line today."
After starting the season 1-3, the Bulls have embarked on a nine-game winning streak, Buffalo's longest stretch without a loss this decade.
The Bulls have five matches left before they attempt to repeat as MAC Champions. They look to extend their win streak to 10 matches Friday against the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks. The match will start at 1 p.m. at Withrow Courts in Oxford, Ohio.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
