No. 41 @RazorbackWTEN Sweeps Friday Doubleheader
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The winning streak has been extended to seven matches for the University of Arkansas women’s tennis team following two wins on Friday at the Billingsley Tennis Center. The 41st-ranked Razorbacks made an impressive comeback in the morning match to down Old Dominion 4-3, and then dominated Oral Roberts 4-0 in the evening match.
Arkansas improves to 7-1 this season. Winning seven matches in a row is the longest streak for the Razorbacks since racking up 10 in a row from Jan. 29 – Feb. 15, 2005.
“This was a great all-around performance today,” head coach Michael Hegarty said. “Down 3-1, I felt we got stronger the longer the match went. Hats off to Old Dominion, they are going to beat a lot of people this year.”
Facing Old Dominion, the Razorbacks lost the doubles point for the third time this season. Following a loss on court one, junior Makenzie Craft and freshman Mia Jurasic came up with a 6-1 win on court two over Rajkovic and Vukovic. Sophomore Oleksandra Shkorupeieva and junior Yang Pang lost the deciding doubles match in a close tiebreaker, 7-6(2).
This was the second straight match in which Arkansas had lost the doubles point as the Razorbacks also fell behind 1-0 against Oklahoma Jan. 25. However, against Oklahoma, Arkansas rallied in singles to win four first sets. The match against Old Dominion would start off the opposite way in singles as the Monarchs claimed four first sets, making the comeback trail that much tougher for the Razorbacks. But Arkansas proved it was more than up to the challenge on Friday.
Jurasic tied the score at 1-1 following her 6-0, 6-1 dismantling of Ivana Vukovic on court six. Jurasic rattled off eight straight games to start the match. She has won six of her first seven matches to open the spring campaign.
After a pair of ODU wins on courts one and five, Arkansas faced a 3-1 deficit for the second time in as many matches. Hudson, Craft, and Lysa were all still on court for the Razorbacks.
Craft bounced back from dropping the opening set and gritted out a tough three-set win, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, over Adriana Rajkovic on court three.
Lysa battled through a three-set win on court four to tie the overall match score at three. Early in the third set, Lysa trailed 3-1 but she went on to win five of the final six games to take a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 win.
The deciding match would come down to Hudson and the 68th-ranked singles player Borislava Botusharova on court two. Hudson got an early break in the third set to go up 3-1 and then got a late break as well to close out the three-set win, 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-2. Hudson picked up her second career win (2-1), and first this season, over a ranked opponent.
Both Lysa and Hudson are still unbeaten this season at 6-0 and 5-0, respectively.
In the evening match against Oral Roberts, Arkansas opened by winning the doubles point behind victories from Craft and Jurasic on court one and juniors Flavia Araujo and Nicole Breaux on court two.
In singles, Shkorupeieva picked up her sixth win of the dual season double-bageling Marizanne Bouwer on court two, 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Peyton Jennings picked up a strong win on the sixth court, besting Nika Munoz, 6-0, 6-1. Jurasic clinched the match for the Razorbacks on court three, 6-1, 6-3 over Petya Simeonova.
Arkansas’ depth was again on display Friday as 10 different Razorbacks saw court time.
Up next, the Razorbacks go on the road for the first time this season, traveling to No. 16 Oklahoma State Sunday at 1 p.m. Live scoring will be available for the match.
ODU-ORU Notes:
– Arkansas pushed its winning streak to seven matches, its longest winning streak since rallying off 10 in a row from Jan. 29 – Feb. 15, 2005.
– The Razorbacks posted back-to-back wins by a 4-3 margin for the first time since picking off No. 33 Tulsa and No. 53 Kentucky in consecutive matches in 2013.
– Sophomore Shannon Hudson improves to 2-1 in her career against ranked opponents in singles, including 1-0 this season. Hudson is also undefeated at 5-0 and second on the team in wins.
– Junior Yuliya Lysa remains unbeaten this season and is tied for the team lead in wins, posting a 6-0 mark.
– Arkansas is 4-0 when winning the doubles point and 2-1 when losing it.
RESULTS – NO. 41 ARKANSAS 4, OLD DOMINION 3
Doubles:
1) Hristova/Botusharova (ODU) def. Hudson/Lysa (UA) 6-4
2) Craft/Jurasic (UA) def. Rajkovic/Vukovic (ODU) 6-1
3) Vojcinakova/Novakovic (ODU) def. Shkorupeieva/Pang (UA) 7-6(2)
Singles:
1) Nikol Hristova (ODU) def. Yang Pang (UA) 6-4, 6-2
2) Shannon Hudson (UA) def. #68 Borislava Botusharova (ODU) 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-2
3) Makenzie Craft (UA) def. Adriana Rajkovic (ODU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
4) Yuliya Lysa (UA) def. Ingrid Vojcinakova (ODU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
5) Marijana Novakovic (ODU) def. Sasha Shkorupeieva (UA) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
6) Mia Jurasic (UA) def. Ivana Vukovic (ODU) 6-0, 6-1
RESULTS – NO. 41 ARKANSAS 4, ORAL ROBERTS 0
Doubles:
1)Craft/Jurasic (UA) def. Simeonova/Bouwer (ORU) 6-0
2) Araujo/Breaux (UA) def. Munoz/Gordan (ORU) 6-1
3) Jennings/Rubel (UA) vs. Puentes/Mercado (ORU) 5-2, unf.
Singles:
1)Yang Pang (UA) vs. Andrada Gordan (ORU) 6-2, 4-1, unf.
2) Sasha Shkorupeieva (UA) def. Marizanne Bouwer (ORU) 6-0, 6-0
3) Mia Jurasic (UA) def. Petya Simeonova (ORU) 6-1, 6-3
4) Nastassia Rubel (UA) vs. Ximena Puentes (ORU) 6-2, 3-1, unf.
5) Nicole Breaux (UA) vs. Brenda Mercado Jove (ORU) 4-6, 2-4, unf.
6) Peyton Jennings (UA) def. Nika Munoz (ORU) 6-1, 6-0
For more information on Arkansas women’s tennis, follow @RazorbackWTEN on Twitter.
