Established 1916

Search ogb.wfu.edu

 

 

 

 

 

Senior Haus serves Deacons to title
By Jim Gleitman
Old Gold and Black Reporter

It was a display of resilience. Though they lost the doubles point against UNLV in the championship match, the sixth-ranked women’s tennis team rebounded in the singles to take a 4-2 victory in the inaugural UNLV Spring Invitational.

The win improved the Deacs’ record to 10-1 while the 53rd_ranked Rebels fell to 7-2. The Deacs had previously defeated UC Santa Barbara, 6-1, and Tulsa, 5-2, to advance to the championship match against home team UNLV.

Head Coach Brian Fleishman was very pleased with all three victories in the tournament, especially the championship match against home favorite UNLV.

Up to this point the Deacs have only competed in indoor events and the windy outdoor conditions at UNLV were a difficult adjustment and an equalizer of talent.

In the doubles matches, the nation’s No. 1 team of junior Bea Bielik and senior Janet Bergman introduced Paulina Janus and Agnieszka Abram to the big leagues with an 8-2 victory. Unfortunately the Deacs fell in the other two matches as freshmen Danielle Schwartz and Katie Martzolf lost 8-3 to Marianne Bakken and Gyorgyi Zsiros while freshman Karin Coetzee and senior Mauren Haus fell to Tracy Chong and Leentjie Oosthuizen, 8-6.

"Bea (Bielik) and Janet (Bergman) took care of business in their doubles match, but the conditions were very tough for our younger girls," Fleishman said. "After we lost the doubles point the team was a little down, but I still had faith in them."

The Rebel fans were definitely fired up as their team had upset 40th-ranked South Alabama the previous day, putting them in the championship match against the Deacs. Nevertheless, there was no upset to be had, as the Deacs entered the singles matches with a sense of determination.

Bielik wasted no time with Janus as she set the tone with a straight set victory of 7-6, 6-2. The big motivating boost however, came in the third match as Martzolf defeated Agnieszka Abramin in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

"Katie’s (Martzolf) victory was a huge lift for the other girls," Fleishman said. "She did a great job of handling the conditions and really boosted the energy of the rest of the team."

With renewed energy, the Deacs closed out the Rebels in the fourth and fifth matches. Haus took Chong in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5 and Coetzee gave Oosthuizen some pointers with her 6-2, 6-3 victory.

The most exciting match of the day, however, came on court two where Bergman and Zsiros stood even at 4-6, 6-3, 4-4 before it was halted.

On March 8 the Deacs will open up ACC play when they travel to Clemson. Fleishman is excited about the upcoming ACC competition. "We are excited about the ACC and the chance to play Duke, but we must look one match at a time," Fleishman said.

"Clemson is a very dangerous team if they get off to a good start, but they tend to give up if they get behind early. We must go and play hard from the beginning."