OLD GOLD AND BLACK REPORTER
Aydin
Milton
Last Saturday, the No. 14 Demon Deacon women's tennis team traveled to Knoxville, Tenn. to face the No. 13 University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers. In what became the closest contest to date for the Deacons, they erased an early 0-2 deficit to finish with a narrow 5-4 victory. The win dropped Tennessee's record to 3-1 and improved the Demon Deacons to 3-0 on the season.
The first match of the day pitted senior Maggie Harris against Tennessee junior Manisha Malhotra. Malhotra, the nation's No. 31 player, never let Harris into the match and put the Vols up early with the 6-2, 6-3 win.
In the No. 2 singles match, Demon Deacon sophomore Nicola Kaiwai, ranked No. 87 in the country, faced No. 93 Margie Lepsi. Although the win again went to the Lady Vols, Kaiwai put up a fight and drew the match out to three sets before her eventual 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 loss.
Down 2-0 at this point, the Demon Deacons were in need of a victory to stay with Tennessee and the remaining singles players did the job, not relinquishing another set for the remainder of the day.
Starting the run for the Demon Deacons was junior Lule Aydin in her match against Whitney Dull. Winning in straight sets, Aydin put the Deacons on the scoreboard with a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Junior Amy Jensen added to the Demon Deacons' roll in her No. 4 singles match against Kristin Bachochin.
The 6-1, 6-3 win tied the overall match score at 2-2 and set things up for senior Christina Caparis to put the Demon Deacons ahead.
She did not fail, as the 6-3, 6-3 win over Emily Woodside gave the Deacons a 3-2 advantage over the Volunteers.
The last singles match of the day put sophomore AnneMarie Milton against Tennessee junior Erin Lowrey. Continuing the Demon Deacon mini-streak, Milton dispatched her opponent in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2.
The late run, which brought the match score up to 4-2 in favor of the Demon Deacons, came to a brief halt at the start of the doubles competition. Facing the nation-wide No. 11 doubles team of Lepsi-Malhotra, the combo of Aydin-Kaiwai were dealt their first loss of the season, 8-4. Bringing the match to a four-all tie, Lady Vols' Candy Reid and Lowry also defeated Harris-Jensen, 8-6.
With the match on the line, Milton and sophomore Caroline Ullring stepped up to the challenge against Bachochin-Woodside. As all doubles matches begin at the same time, they were not aware of the match's implications at the start, but Milton said that intensity was not a problem for the duo.
"We approached the match as if it would end that way," Milton said.
With that in mind, they got up to an early lead and built on in throughout the match, eventually winning, 8-4. The win, bringing their unblemished season record to 4-0, also sealed the 5-4 victory for the team.
While the win surprised previously undefeated Tennessee, it was what the Demon Deacons expected.
"We knew that we could win, we were confident. We just had to play well," Milton said.
The next stop for the Demon Deacons is in Madison, Wis. for the National Team Indoor Competition, Thursday- Sunday.