NC State
Minnesota
#39 NC State Edges #75 Minnesota 4-3
2/20/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 20, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. --- Led by three important singles wins by freshmen Joelle Kissell and Christy Sipes, and Tatiana Illova, 39th-ranked NC State women’s tennis gutted out a 4-3 road win over 75th-ranked Minnesota Sunday.
To take a hotly contested doubles point, Lenka Hojckova and Illova defeated Minnesota’s Pintusava/Ferrazzi team 8-4, and Sanaa Bhambri and Sipes triumphed 8-5 over Palen/Muravnik 8-5.
Kissell and Ashley Miller fell 8-2 to Wiecha/Spilca for the Pack’s only doubles loss of the afternoon.
NC State (5-1) and Minnesota (4-4) split in singles competition, 3-3, after Minnesota upsets over the Pack’s two ranked singles, #23 Sanaa Bhambri and #76 Sandhya Nagaraj.
Bhambri suffered her first loss of the spring in a 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 match against 74th-ranked Natallia Pintusava. Nagaraj dropped a 6-4, 7-5 decision to unranked Alessandra Ferrazzi.
NC State’s freshmen Kissell and Sipes picked up two of the final three points of the afternoon to hold on for the team win. Kissell bested Magdalena Wiecha 6-4, 7-5, while Sipes topped Doron Muravnik 6-2, 4-6, 7-5. Illova represented the third of the Pack’s singles wins with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Alexa Palen.
Next on the schedule, NC State returns home to host Old Dominion at the Isenhour Tennis Center beginning at 4 p.m. on February 25.
Singles
No. 74 Natallia Pintusava def. No. 23 Sanaa Bhambri 6-2, 5-7, 6-1
Alessandra Ferrazzi def. No. 76 Sandhya Nagaraj 6-4, 7-5
Yuliana Umanets def. Lenka Hojckova 6-4, 6-3
Joelle Kissell def. Magdalena Wiecha 6-4, 7-5
Tatiana Illova def. Alexa Palen 6-3, 7-5
Christy Sipes def. Doron Muravnik 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
Doubles
Hojckova/ Illova def. Pintusava/Ferrazzi 8-4
Bhambri/Sipes def. Palen/Muravnik 8-5
Wiecha/Spilca def. Kissell/Miller 8-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,3,2,4,1,6)
