Ball State University
Akron
Women's Tennis Wins Back-To-Back MAC Regular Season Titles
April 22, 2017 | Women's Tennis
For the second-straight conference match Peyton Gollhofer was the deciding factor for the Cardinals, clinching the win for Ball State last week at Miami and then this week against Akron.
Ball State came into today's match as the reigning 2016 MAC regular season champions and will host next weekends MAC Tournament as the top seed which begins Friday (April 28) and will end Sunday (April 30). With the bye, the Cardinals advance straight to the semifinals Saturday and will play the 10 a.m. match.
You could sense that today's match was going to be a long, hard-fought battle which started with doubles play today. Akron's No. 1 doubles tandem of Carli Knezevich and Karolina Makismova won a fairly easy 6-1 decision over Audrey Berger and Julia Sbircea. But the Zips momentum quickly came to an end when Peyton Gollhofer and Carmen Blanco stunned Ariadna Blinova and Sophia Geier with the victory on court two, evening the score at 1-1. The deciding match came down to the No. 3 doubles team of Isabelle Dohanics and Rosalinda Calderon. The outcome wasn't looking good for the Cardinals as Dohanics and Calderon trailed early on in the competition before fighting back to take a 5-3 advantage over the Zips. But Akron's Shannon Newnes and Rita Pedros didn't stay quiet long and would quickly make it a tiebreak situation with score evened, 6-6. The overtime deemed to be too much for the Cardinals as the Zips would clinch the doubles point and take the match from Ball State, 7-6 (7-3).
In singles action, Berger made it a 1-1 match with her straight set take down over Luisa Echeverry at No. 5 in the lineup. The momentum began to swing the Cardinals way as Dohanics registered at 6-3, 6-0 defeat over Newnes on court five to give Ball State a 2-1 edge over Akron. The Zips then knotted the match 2-2 after Blanco fell 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 1 spot to Geier. After that, Toni Ormond took on her leadership roll as a senior and won a nailbiter (7-5, 7-6) on court three over Pedroso to put the Cardinals back on top, 3-2.
With courts two and six remaining, both Gollhofer and Calderon had taken their respective opponents to third sets. Calderon battled to the very end but lost her match on six to leave it in the hands of Gollhofer. Gollhofer, after being down 4-2 fought back to make the score 5-4. Quickly, Akron's Blinova made it 5-5 but Gollhofer toughed it out to take the match 7-5.
Tennis Match Results
Akron vs Ball State
Apr 21, 2017 at Muncie, Ind.
(YMCA)
Ball State 4, Akron 3
Singles competition
1. Sophia Geier (AKRON) def. Carmen Blanco (BSU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Peyton Gollhofer (BSU) def. Ariadna Blinova (AKRON) 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
3. Toni Ormond (BSU) def. Rita Pedroso (AKRON) 7-5, 7-6
4. Isabelle Dohanics (BSU) def. Shannon Newnes (AKRON) 6-3, 6-0
5. Audrey Berger (BSU) def. Luisa Echeverry (AKRON) 6-2, 6-1
6. Carli Knezevich (AKRON) def. Rosalinda Calderon (BSU) 7-6, 2-6, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Carli Knezevich/Karolina Makismova (AKRON) def. Audrey Berger/Julia Sbircea (BSU) 6-1
2. Peyton Gollhofer/Carmen Blanco (BSU) def. Ariadna Blinova/Sophia Geier (AKRON) 6-3
3. Shannon Newnes/Rita Pedroso (AKRON) def. Isabelle Dohanics/Rosalinda Calderon (BSU) 7-6 (3-7)
Match Notes:
Akron 23-3, 7-1 MAC
Ball State 20-2, 8-0 MAC
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (5,4,1,3,6,2)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
5,4,1,3,6,2
Players Mentioned
