Smith Comeback and Riley Sweep Secure First Home Win

HUNTINGTON, W.Va- The Marshall University tennis team (2-2) secured its first 4-3 home victory of the 2021 season after a thrilling win over Furman (5-5). Senior Anna Smith secured the tying point and graduate student Madison Riley capped it off with a win.

"It was great that they came here and gave us a chance to compete," head coach John Mercer said. "I thought that we did a really good job competing from the doubles all the way to the end, which says a lot about our fight and character."

Madi Ballow and Riley won the first doubles set over Maggie Pate and Ilayda Baykan. Jutte Van Hansewyck and Liz Stefancic came back from an early Julia Adams/Ellie Schoppe lead to win, giving the Herd the first point of the match.

Dani Dankanych dropped the first singles set, 6-2, 6-3, giving Furman the tying point. Ballow answered with a singles win, sweeping her opponent, 6-3, 6-3.

Marshall dropped the next two singles competitions with both Stefancic and Van Hansewyck falling to Schoope and Pate, respectively.

Smith took the early lead, beating Madison Dillon, 6-2 in set one. However, Dillon rallied back taking the second set, 7-5. The last set was a tight battle where Dillon started to creep ahead but after Smith tied the set, she went on to win the team point.

"Anna gave us a real dog fight," Mercer said. "She is super competitive. It became a game of cat and mouse with a lot of strategy and thinking about every ball. You have to pick your spots on when you want to be aggressive on offensive and do things on the right shots or you'll pay the price. It really turned into a thinking game. It was a great experience for Anna and she has won a lot of matches like that for us."

Riley rounded out the win with a 6-4, 6-1 sweep over Baykan.

"That is a tough spot to come in and play that last match after sitting for a while," Mercer said. She has always been competitive since they day that she got here. She wants to win, and she fights hard for every single point. That's what she did today, and it was good enough. It was good for her and good for the Herd."

Doubles Competition:
Doubles 1: Van Hansewyck/ Stefancic (MU) def. Adams/Schoppe, (Furman), 6-4
Doubles 2: Dankanych/Gillar (MU) vs. Dillon/Rompf (Furman), 6-5 (unfinished)
Doubles 3: Ballow/Riley (MU) def. Pate/Baykan (Furman), 6-4
Finishing Order 3,1, 2 (unfinished)

Singles Competition:
1. J. Adams (Furman) def. D. Dankanych (MU), 6-2, 6-3
2. A. Smith (MU) def. M. Dillon (Furman) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
3. M. Ballow (MU) def. M. Rompf (Furman), 6-3, 6-3
4. M. Pate (Furman)def. J. Van Hansewyck (MU) 7-5, 6-2
5. E. Schoope (Furman)def. L. Stefancic (MU) 6-4, 6-4
6. M. Riley (MU) def. I. Baykan (Furman)6-4, 6-1
Finishing Order: 1, 3, 4, 5, 2, 6

The Herd returns home on Friday at 4 p.m. for a battle against Bellarmine at the 7827 Tennis Center in Huntington, W.Va.

FOLLOW THE #HERDFAMILY
For the latest information on Marshall women's tennis, follow on Twitter and Instagram at @Herd_Tennis, on Facebook at Herd Tennis and online at HerdZone.com.

To follow all Thundering Herd sports and get live stats, schedules and free live audio, download the Marshall Athletics App for iOS or Android!

---HerdZone.com---

Marshall University Athletics

Smith Comeback and Riley Sweep Secure First Home Win

Related News

Players Mentioned

Madi Ballow

Madison Riley

Anna Smith

Liz Stefancic

Jutte Van Hansewyck

Related Videos