Marshall University Athletics
Herd Tennis Takes Down No. 73 Washington State
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Herd Tennis Takes Down No. 73 Washington State
3/18/2005
Freshman Jeanne Schwartz won the decisive match in the Herd's win against Washington State, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Photo by Matt Riley |
SAN DIEGO, Calif - The No. 70 ranked Marshall University tennis team downed No. 73 Washington State, 5-2 Friday at the University of San Diego tennis courts in the first match of its Spring Break road trip in Southern California.
"We knew it would be a tough match since they just beat San Diego and we hadn't played a match for a while," Marshall head coach John Mercer said. "We knew we had to come out focused and go after it and we did. Hopefully, that will continue to make us successful the rest of the season."
Marshall (7-5) looked good in its first outdoor match of the season as it downed its PAC-10 foe. Washington State (7-9) has played several of the nation's top teams including a 5-2 win on the road over No. 54 ranked San Diego on Thursday.
"We played well," Mercer said. "There's a lot of things we've been working on in practice and I think we executed them well in the match so it shows we're making good progress."
After two weeks off since its last match at Richmond, the Thundering Herd came out with a new look and envigorated spirit against the Cougars of Washington State. With an AC/DC-like theme, the Herd was "Back in Black" with an intense attitude as it hit the courts in all black uniforms for the first time.
Marshall didn't waste anytime getting on the board first as it took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. Lille Nzudie (Duoala, Cameroon) and Shannon Brown (Overland Park, Kan.) were victorious from the third spot with an 8-2 win over Amy Toth and Aleksandra Stefanova. Joelle Good (Zurich, Switzerland) and Danielle Hock (Wigan, England) clinched the doubles point at No. 1 with an 8-5 win against Ekatrina Burduli and Nora Gaal.
In singles play, Hock gave the Herd a 2-0 lead in the match with a well-played 6-2, 6-0 victory at No. 4 over Gaal. Burduli downed Nzudie at No. 1, 6-3, 6-2 to get the Cougars on the board in the match to make things interesting after Marshall had dropped the first set on courts three, five and six.
However, Senior Ashley Kroh (Louisville, Ky.), battled to a 7-6 win in the first set at No. 2, then used the momentum to pick up a 6-2 win in the second set to put the Herd up 3-1 over the Cougars. Freshman Jeanne Schwartz (West Palm Beach, Fla.) was down a set before mounting an impressive charge to pull off a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles to clinch the match and move the Herd's record to 7-5 on the season.
Good pulled out a three-set win at No. 3 singles 6-7, 6-2, 6-0 win over Chris Martinez to set the final score at 5-2 in favor of Marshall. Washington State's Aleksandra Stefanova defeated Brown in a close match at No. 6, 7-6, 6-4 for the Cougars other point.
The Herd will now have a day between matches in Southern California before playing the No. 54 ranked University of San Diego Toreros on Sunday at 10 a.m. USD is 5-6 on the season.
RESULTS
SINGLES - Marshall vs. Washinton St.
No. 1 - Burduli (WS) def. Nzudie 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 - Kroh (M) def. Sallai 7-6, 6-2
No. 3 - Good (M) def. Martinez 6-7, 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 - Hock (M) def. Gaal 6-2, 6-0
No. 5 - Schwartz (M) def. Toth 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 - Stefanova (WS) def. Brown 7-6, 6-4
DOUBLES
No. 1 - Good/Hock (M) def. Burduli/Gaal 8-5
No. 2 - Martinez/Sallai (WS) def. Kroh/Schwartz 8-6
No. 3 - Nzudie/Brown (M) def. Toth/Stefanova 8-2
