After two more victories this weekend, the women's tennis team's confidence is soaring. On Friday, The Bulls defeated the nationally ranked Syracuse Orange at Syracuse's Drumlin Tennis Center. The come-from-behind victory was filled with gutsy performances in single's play.
The Bulls kept the momentum rolling on Sunday, as they whitewashed cross-town rival Niagara University (3-2) 7-0. The victory allowed the Bulls to remain undefeated thus far.
The Bulls (4-0) trailed 3-0 early against the Orange (2-3), but managed to fight back and win four consecutive matches to clinch the victory. Senior Katrin Fischer defeated Syracuse's Anne Magellan, 6-1,6-2, to put the Bulls on the board. Her teammates then responded and rallied behind her to tie the match at three.
It was Buffalo junior Tina Jacob who stepped up big winning in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1, against freshman Chelsea Jones, which gave the Bulls a 4-3 advantage.
"Tina was the deciding match," said Buffalo head coach Kathy Twist. "It was tied at three, and she won the first set 7-5 in a real battle, and then she really came alive, and won the next set 6-1 to secure the win for us."
This was an impressive win for Buffalo, not only because Syracuse is ranked 75th in the Fila/Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, but because the Bulls were without one of their top players, junior Andreea Novaceanu. Novaceanu has been sidelined with an injury for the start of the spring season. Novaceanu is currently ranked 22nd in the east region, by the Fila/ITA, and hopes to return to action by as early as next week.
"We won without our number one player, and everyone knows we stepped up," Twist said. "The team just had the confidence, and they expected to win."
Bulls senior Miglena Nenova, has been filling in at the No. 1 spot in Novaceanu's absence. She defeated Syracuse's Olga Votavova, ranked 28th in the east, in Friday's nail-biting win. She's also been excelling in double's play this season with her freshman partner Denise Harijanto. The duo defeated the Orange's combo of Catherine Zawadzki and Jones, 8-3.
Nenova continued her impressive play in the Bull's win over Niagara on Sunday. She defeated their top singles player, sophomore Vanja Lakic, 6-1,6-2.
"Nenova had to step up to the No. 1 position again, which is always tough to do," Twist said. "She's one of our senior leaders that we rely on."
Overall the Bulls dominated the Niagara Purple Eagles in a game played at the Sportsplex in North Tonawanda, N.Y., with decisive victories across the board. This included a sweep of the double's contests and junior Smaranda Stan's "double-bagel" win over junior Shella Dargut, 6-0, 6-0 in single's play.
After last year's loss in the MAC championship game, they were ranked No. 2 in the MAC pre-season polls behind Western Michigan, who they lost to in the MAC championship game last season.
"I know they said in the polls we're No. 2 and I said to the girls that's only on paper," Twist said. "Whoever we play we're just going to play our game and if we need to make adjustments we will."
The Bulls' next match is at home verse the Duquesne Dukes (1-1), on Feb. 24 at 3 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
