Mastodons Defeat Coyotes and Leathernecks in Conference Opener

Thursday, March 15

Las Vegas, Nev.

12 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

South Dakota

Mastodons Defeat Coyotes and Leathernecks in Conference Opener

3/15/2012 10:26:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Results USD | Results WIU

LAS VEGAS - IPFW opened up Summit League play with a pair of wins against South Dakota, 4-3, and Western Illinois, 7-0, on Thursday in the first day of the conference's five-team round-robin cluster in Las Vegas, Nev., at Bally's Resort.

With the wins, IPFW moves to 9-7 (2-0 SL), while USD falls to 9-5 (0-2) and WIU drops to 0-7 (0-1) on the season.

The Mastodons started the day off in a sweep of the Coyotes in doubles action to earn the early 1-0 lead.

Freshman Marcy Huck and junior Caterina Kiefer claimed the No. 1 position, 8-1, while the IPFW team of junior Anita Henestrosa and senior Alex Forsyth followed at No. 2 with an 8-4 victory. In a closer match at the No. 3 slot, the IPFW senior-tandem of Raquel Vescovi and Frederique Sunstrum won by an 8-6 count.

In singles play, IPFW picked up wins at Nos. 4 and 1, respectively, to gain a 3-0 lead over USD. In dominating fashion, Kiefer won 6-2, 6-0 at No. 4, while Vescovi played the No. 1 position where despite a first-set battle, won 7-5, 6-2.

The Coyotes bounced back to claim Nos. 2, 3 and 5 over the Mastodons to tie the score at 3-3. The match then came down to the No. 6 position where Forsyth clinched the 4-3 win for the 'Dons by a 6-4, 7-6 (6) count.

Against WIU in doubles action, IPFW picked up 8-0 wins at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. At the No. 1 position, Huck and Kiefer blanked won at No. 1, while Forsyth and Henestrosa sealed IPFW's doubles point at the No. 2 slot.

The 'Dons carried their momentum into singles play against the Leathernecks.

Sunstrum and Kiefer both earned 6-0, 6-1 wins at Nos. 4 and 3, respectively. Against the Leathernecks, Huck moved to the No. 2 position where she didn't give up a point in 6-0 wins, while Vescovi continued to play the No. 1 singles' position and won 6-1, 6-0. Sophomore Alyssa Tucker closed out the match for the Mastodons where she won 6-1, 6-3 at the No. 5 slot.

IPFW will now return to the courts tomorrow with one match. The 'Dons will face the host school, Southern Utah, at 12 p.m. (EST) at Bally's Resort.

~Feel the Rumble~

IPFW 4, USD 3

Singles:
1. Raquel Vescovi def. Michelle Elkin (USD) 7-5, 6-2
2. Alena Sergeychik (USD) def. Anita Henestrosa 7-6 (1), 6-1
3. Shadi Soleymani (USD) def. Marcy Huck 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
4. Caterina Kiefer def. Nina Barudzic (USD) 6-2, 6-0
5. Veronika Makashov (USD) def. Frederique Sunstrum 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
6. Alex Forsyth def. Yamini Reddy (USD) 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
Order of finish: 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6

Doubles:
1. Huck/Kiefer def. Sergeychik/Soleymani (USD) 8-1
2. Henestrosa/Forsyth def. Elkin/Barudzic (USD) 8-4
3. Vescovi/Sunstrum def. Makashov/Reddy (USD) 8-6
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

IPFW 7, WIU 0

Singles:
1. Vescovi def. Ashley Rettger (WIU) 6-1, 6-0
2. Huck def. Jessica Callahan (WIU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Kiefer def. Jessica Theobald (WIU) 6-0, 6-1
4. Sunstrum def. Megan Pazdernick (WIU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Alyssa Tucker def. Juliette Schwartz (WIU) 6-1, 6-3
6. Forsyth win by default
Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 1, 5

Doubles:
1. Huck/Kiefer def. Schwartz/Rettger (WIU) 8-0
2. Forsyth/Henestrosa def. Callahan/Theobald (WIU) 8-0
3. Vescovi/Sunstrum win by default
Order of finish: ,1, 2