The women's tennis team's drive for another Mid-American Conference Championship hit a road bump with a loss to Miami (Ohio) on April 3. After following the loss with two wins, it seemed as if Buffalo's road to another championship was back on track.
Bowling Green threw another wrench into the Bulls' plans on Saturday.
Buffalo's two-match winning streak ended when they lost a close contest against Mid-American Conference rival, Bowling Green, 4-3 at the Village Glen Tennis Center. With the match tied 3-3, Buffalo junior Anna Subenkova dropped a match-deciding game to give Bowling Green the win.
Even though the Bulls (12-5, 5-2 MAC) finished 2-1 in doubles play, their four losses in singles competition put them behind in points, costing them the victory against the Falcons (11-5, 4-2 MAC). The loss dropped the Bulls into third place in the MAC behind Miami and Western Michigan.
One bright spot for Buffalo was junior Denise Harijanto. Harijanto continued to show her dominance on the tennis court as she went undefeated during the day. In doubles pay, she competed with sophomore Diana Popescu and won 8-1. She continued her solid play in singles play, winning her match against Kelsey Jakupcin, 6-0, 6-1.
Harijanto's singles victory brought her season record to 21-4, tying her career-high total in wins during a season.
The Bulls' other win in doubles play came from the combination junior Diana Toia and senior Smaranda Stan, who defeated Libby Harrison and Stefanie Menoff, 8-6.
After capturing the doubles point, all the team needed was to win three single matches to secure a victory.
Harijanto's victory in the first match versus Bowling Green's Kelsey Jakupcin brought the team within two matches.
However, Bowling Green got back into the contest, winning the next three matches.
In the fourth singles match, Bowling Green's Katia Babina defeated Toia in two sets, 6-4, 6-3. The match between Popescu and Falcon's Christine Chiricosta ended in another loss for the Bulls. Chiricosta continued the Falcons' hot streak, beating Popescu 6-1, 6-2. Bowling Green's third consecutive win came in the third singles, where Stan loss to Samantha Kintzel, 6-4, 7-5.
Though the Bulls had lost all of the momentum, they were not out of the game.
Sophomore Aleksandra Petrova tied the match up at three with a win over Bowling Green's Stefanie Menoff, setting up a match-deciding contest between Subenkova and Bowling Green's Libby Harison.
Both players won one set each, bringing the match down to a third set. Harrison gained control early in the set and knocked off Subenkova, 6-3.
The Bulls have one more regular season match, which is home against Akron on Saturday at 1 p.m. Following the match, the girls will continue to prepare for the MAC Championships which will be held the following Saturday at Bowling Green.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
