Eastern Michigan Athletics
Eastern Michigan University
Bowling Green Invitational
Eagles Advance Four to Singles Finals, Two to Doubles Finals in Invitational
9/21/2009 12:27:37 AM | Tennis
Women Open Season Strong at BGSU Invitational
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) —The Eastern Michigan women's tennis team had a strong outing this Saturday, Sept. 19, as the squad opened its season in Ohio at the annual Bowling Green State University Invitational.
Although team scores were not officially kept, the Eagles went 10-4 in singles flights and 2-1 in doubles flights for the day, and advanced four players advance to the singles' finals and two players into the doubles' semifinals on Sunday.
The duos of Julia Breuss (Dornbirn, Austria-Sportgymnasium) and Miriam Westerink (Rheden, The Netherlands-Thomas a Kempis), and Celine Donnet (Hemiksem, Belgium-Institut Deschamps) and Karina Ahuja (New Delhi, India-Modern School) defeated two pair of Cleveland State players, 8-2 and 9-7, respectively, to move on to the semifinals in doubles competition. Westerink and Ahuja were also successful in singles matches. Westerink defeated Bowling Green's Maddy Eccleston 6-3 and 6-2after dropping the first set 3-6. She then advanced to the finals with a two set win over Youngstown State's Lauren Hankle. Ahuja was also impressive with consecutive victories which advanced her to Sunday's finals.
Newcomer and freshman Donnet started her career out with impressive straight set wins over Xavier's Kelsey Kinnard, including a shutout in the second set, and Katie Grubb of Bowling Green. She will also appear in Sunday's finale.
Marcela Rivero (Santa Cruz, Bolivia-Saint George) was the other Eagle to advance in singles competition. She defeated Jeremie Benjamin, Akron, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals match, then blanked Jesika Bays, IUPUI, 6-0,6-0 to move on to the finals.
“We had a solid start,” said EMU Head Coach Ryan Ray. “I'm happy to see a lot of toughness on the court to get four singles players into finals along with two doubles teams in the semis. I see a lot of good things we can build on for this year and some things that need improvement. This weekend has done a lot to prepare us for next weekend's invitational.”
The Eagles will next be in competition this coming weekend, Sept. 25-27, at the Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn.
Singles
Quarterfinal
Julia Breuss (EMU) def. Lindsey Lonnergan (Cincinnati) 6-2,6-2
SemiFinal
Zara Harutyunyan (Akron) def. Julia Breuss (EMU) 6-3,4-1, Ret. Injury
Quarterfinal
Amy Recht (IPFW) def. Xu Chang (EMU) 6-2,6-1
Consolation Semifinal
Xu Chang (EMU) def. Jill Ducro (Xavier) 7-6(7),6-4
Quarterfinal
Miriam Westerink (EMU) def. Maddy Eccleston (Bowling Green) 3-6,6-3,6-2
Semifinal
Miriam Westerink (EMU) def. Lauren Hankle (Youngstown St.) 6-2,6-4
Quarterfinal
Karina Ahuja (EMU) def. Sanda Bjelan (Cleveland St.) 5-7,6-4,6-1
Semifinal
Karina Ahuja (EMU) def. Tanisha Welch (Youngstown St.) 6-1,6-4
Quarterfinal
Celine Donnet (EMU) def. Kelsey Kinnard (Xavier) 6-4,6-0
Semifinal
Celine Donnet (EMU) def. Katie Grubb (Bowling Green) 6-4,6-1
Quarterfinal
Marcela Rivero (EMU) def. Jeremie Benjamin (Akron) 6-4,6-4
Semifinal
Marcela Rivero (EMU) def. Jesika Bays (IUPUI) 6-0,6-0
Quarterfinal
Carolina Castro Cota (Akron) def. Rumbidzai Muskwe (EMU) 6-1,6-4
Consolation Semifinal
Natalie Handler (Xavier) def. Rumbidzai Muskwe (EMU) 6-0,4-6,10-6
Doubles
Flight 1 Quarterfinal
Breuss/Westerink (EMU) def. Bjerrehus/Bjelan (Cleveland St.) 8-2
Flight 2 Quarterfinal
Ahuja/Donnet (EMU) def. Lazaris/Gibbons (Cleveland St.) 9-7
Flight 3 Quarterfinal
Cornwell/Salas (Detroit) def. Xu/Rivero (EMU) 8-3
