Wins in doubles propel Women's Tennis to 6-1 victory over Wake Forest
SAN ANTONIO -- After losing their first match of the season last weekend to #4 Northwestern, the 13th-ranked University of Texas women's tennis team (8-1) returned to their winning ways by posting a 6-1 victory over 33rd-ranked Wake Forest (4-4) on Sunday afternoon at Thousand Oaks Racquet Club. The Longhorns won the doubles point and battled the Deacons in singles, recording wins at the Nos. 2-6 positions. "This was a win," Texas head coach Jeff Moore said. "It was not pretty on most of the courts, but everyone competed and that is typical of this team. We were able to get past Wake Forest, but will need to play at a much higher level against Duke. And, I expect that we will." Texas opened the match with victories at the second and third doubles spots. Sophomore Petra Dizdar (Split, Croatia) and junior Mia Marovic (Split, Croatia) pulled out a close 9-7 decision over Ashlee Davis and Katie Martzolf at No. 2, while freshman Courtney Zauft (San Antonio, Texas) and junior Kelly Baritot (Allison Park, Pa.) clinched the point with an 8-2 win over Jenna Loeb and Danielle Schwartz at No. 3. Wake Forest was able to avoid the sweep with an 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles. The 26th-ranked duo of juniors Katie Ruckert (Vienna, Va.) and Kendra Strohm (Tucson, Ariz.) dropped their third match of the season to Karin Coetzee and Alex Hirsch. Ruckert was first off the courts in singles. She trailed Hirsch 4-6 in the opening set before taking the next two, 6-1, 6-3, for the win at No. 3. Dizdar followed with a three-set loss at the top of the lineup. The sophomore took the first set 6-2, but was unable to hold off #31 Coetzee, losing the final two sets in tiebreakers, 7-6 (1) and 7-6 (3). At No. 2 singles, 80th-ranked Strohm recorded a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over #91 Ashlee Davis to record her third win of the season at this position. The match was clinched by Zauft, who was the only Longhorn to defeat her opponent in straight sets. The 97th-ranked freshman downed Loeb 6-0, 6-2 at the fifth spot. Marovic and sophomore Ristine Olson (Missoula, Mont.) scored the final two points for Texas, needing super tiebreakers to close their matches. Marovic defeated Martzolf, 4-6, 6-4, 10-5, at the fourth spot, and Olson defeated Schwartz, 4-6, 6-1, 10-8, at the bottom of the lineup. The Texas women's tennis team returns to action on Friday, March 11 when it hosts fifth-ranked Duke at Penick-Allison Tennis Center. First serve is set for 5:30 p.m. Central. #13 Texas 6, #33 Wake Forest 1 Doubles (Order of finish: 2, 3*, 1)
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