Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
UVA Tournament
Timko Impresses in UVA Fall Opener
9/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 21, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- Last weekend the Marshall University women's tennis team travelled to Charlottesville, Va., for the University of Virginia Fall Invitational. The tournament consisted of three flights of 16-person singles brackets, and two flights of doubles brackets. Winners of the initial pairings proceeded to the winner's side of the bracket, while the losers moved to the consolation side.
Representing Marshall in the top bracket was junior Dominika Zaprazna. Zaprazna was paired against UVA's No. 74 ranked Erin Vierra, and fell 6-4, 6-3 in the first match to the eventual champion. After moving to the consolation side, Zaprazna then defeated Virginia Commonwealth University's Josefin Hjertquist 6-0, 7-5 to advance to the consolation third place game, which did not end up being played.
In the second tier, Marshall was represented by Karli Timko, Kristina Koprcina, and Maria Voscekova. Voscekova lost her opening match to North Carolina State's Christy Sipes 6-2, 6-1, but defeated University of North Carolina-Greenville's Lucy Dougherty and Wake Forest's Zane Zarina in the next two consolation matches. Koprcina defeated UVA's Marjorie Baker 6-4, 7-5 in the first match, but fell to Winthrop's Sandra Herrera 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinal pairing.
Meanwhile, Karli Timko knocked off William and Mary's Nina Vulovich 6-0, 6-1 in the first match, but fell in three, close sets to UVA's Molly O'Koniewski in the quarterfinal. Timko was then paired in the firth place bracket with teammate Koprcina, and won 6-1, 6-2 before defeating Anik Cepeda 6-1, 6-2 for the fifth place crown.
"We were very impressed with Karli's play this weekend," said head coach John Mercer. "She showed us some good things and we are looking forward to a very productive season from her."
In the third singles' tier, Marshall's Kara Kucin and Ellie Ball squared off against Wake Forest's Brigit Bercyte and North Carolina State's Elisha Hande, respectively, but only Kucin came away with an opening round win. From there, the Belleair, Fla., native advanced to play against Winthrop's Andressa Garcia, but fell in 6-4, 6-1 sets.
In the doubles tournament, the Thundering Herd's No. 36 ranked doubles team of Zaprazna and Voscekova was upset in the opening round by North Carolina State's Illova and Hande, 8-6. Koprcina and Timko didn't fare any better, losing to No. 48 ranked Fuccillo and Xi of UVA. Zaprazna and Voscekova went on to claim third place on the consolation side of the bracket, while Koprcina and Timko finished second after losing 8-0 in the finals consolation match to UVA's No. 9 ranked Hardenbergh and Vierra.
In the second doubles bracket, Kucin and Ball defeated VCU's Placha and Kvitashvili 9-7 in the first round before falling in the semifinal 8-5 to the eventual champions Peretz and O'Koniewski. The pair then rebounded to claim third place in the bracket with an 8-2 win over North Carolina State's Sipes and Nelson.
The ladies will now continue practicing as they prepare for the Wake Forest Tournament on September 30, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Players Mentioned
