The Upper Iowa University women's tennis team dropped their dual against the Purdue University-Northwest Pride on Mar. 6 in Waterloo, Iowa. The Peacocks were unable to secure a victory in doubles competition despite a closely contested No. 2 doubles match, and the Pride prevailed after taking five of the six singles matches. Upper Iowa falls to a 1-5 (1-3 NSIC) record on the season while Purdue Northwest improves to 3-4 on the year.
Recap... The Peacocks could not secure the doubles team point to start the dual as the Pride picked up 6-1 wins in the No. 1 and 3 doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead in the dual. Playing in their first No. 2 doubles match of the season,
Varvara Ogorodnikova and
Lina Ziani made an impressive comeback after being down 5-1. The UIU duo battled back and won three consecutive games to cut their deficit to 5-4, but Purdue Northwest was able to claim the 6-4 win and sweep the doubles competition.
Ogorodnikova continued her impressive and competitive play in singles competition as she claimed a hard-fought victory in No. 1 singles. After dropping the opening set by a score of 7-6 (8-6 tiebreak), Ogorodnikova tied the match with a 6-3 win in set number two before dominating in the tiebreaker set with a 10-1 victory to claim the match and a point for UIU in the dual. The No. 3 singles match was competitive as Ziani was able to win six total games, but the Pride were victorious as they won 6-3, 6-3. Purdue University-Northwest won singles No. 2 through 6 in straight sets to take the 6-1 victory in the dual over Upper Iowa.
Quotables... "In doubles against Purdue Northwest, they dominated doubles No. 1 and 3, but we had a really close match in No. 2 doubles. Varvara and Lina were down 5-1 but were able to come back to 5-4 before dropping the match 6-4."
"In singles, Varvara picked up a great victory at No. 1. She showed great patience and was able to set up her aggressive game well today. Jessa and Lina has some closer matches than what the scores show but played against really solid players. Alejandra, Mya and Elaina also had some good matches but Purdue Northwest was able to be a bit more consistent to win those matches."
"Overall, we improved on our our consistency and patience setting up points. We need to be more aggressive in doubles than we are right now, and in singles we need to keep working on our consistency and patience. I am happy with the improvements we are making week after week and it will pay off on the long run. We are still a young team but we are improving and learning how to get better week after week." - Head Coach Léo Millet
Up Next... The Peacocks have a two-week break before they are scheduled to return to action. The team is scheduled to get back on the court on Mar. 20 for an NSIC Dual against the Warriors of Winona State University in Winona, Minn. at 3:30 p.m. before heading to Waverly, Iowa to face the NCAA Division III Knights of Wartburg College in a dual scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Mar. 22.
Purdue Northwest 6, Upper Iowa 1
Singles competition
1.
Varvara Ogorodnikova (UIU) def. Lena Van Bergen (PNWWT) 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 1-0 (10-1)
2. Sienna Lopez (PNWWT) def.
Jessa Michieli (UIU) 6-1, 6-2
3. Patricia Dizon (PNWWT) def.
Lina Ziani (UIU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Nicole Uzcategui (PNWWT) def.
Alejandra Abella (UIU) 6-0, 6-3
5. Carolina Yepez (PNWWT) def.
Mya Herrmann (UIU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Julia Yanes-Barrera (PNWWT) def.
Elaina Wall (UIU) 6-0, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Lena Van Bergen/Sienna Lopez (PNWWT) def.
Jessa Michieli/
Alejandra Abella (UIU) 6-1
2. Nicole Uzcategui/Patricia Dizon (PNWWT) def.
Varvara Ogorodnikova/
Lina Ziani (UIU) 6-4
3. Carolina Yepez/Julia Yanes-Barrera (PNWWT) def.
Mya Herrmann/
Elaina Wall (UIU) 6-1
