University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
Villanova
Delaware Survives Villanova in 4-3 Thriller
2/14/2015 11:17:00 PM | Women's Tennis
ELKTON, Md. – Each and every match was close Saturday evening as the University of Delaware women's tennis team outlasted Villanova, 4-3, at Elkton Indoor Tennis.
Senior Abby Martinez (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven) and sophomore Denny LaMachia (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) opened play with an 8-6 win over Linley Busby and Kate Pettee in No. 3 doubles.
The Blue Hens (3-1) clinched the doubles point when freshman Arielle Shuren (Montebello, N.Y./Suffern) and junior Nataliya Naumova (Moscow, Russia/Moscow 98 School No. 1953) pulled out a No. 1 doubles victory against Tori Smyth and Paulina Bajet in the top flight.
UD went up 3-1 with singles wins from Shuren and junior Danea Jonjic' (Split, Croatia/Croatia Natural Sciences & Technical). Shuren defeated Smyth, 6-1, 6-3 in No. 1 singles while Jonjic' picked up a 6-4, 6-2 second flight victory versus Alex Krogius.
The match came down to No. 6 singles play as Martinez gutted out a 5-7, 6-2, 14-12 win over Busby.
With the loss, Villanova fell to 0-4 on the year.
“This was one of those matches when you hate to see anybody lose. I'm not sure if I can remember a time when a match has been so close. Somehow we pulled out the doubles point with great play by Natalia [Naumova] and Arielle [Shuren]. The singles matches were also all very close. Abby [Martinez] fought off at least two match points and pulled ahead to win 14-12 in the tiebreaker. It was an epic collegiate tennis match for sure.”
HEN SCRATCHINGS
· Abby Martinez and Denny LaMachia won their first career doubles match as a pair.
· Delaware is 31-13 this season in doubles action and 45-37 in singles play.
· Arielle Shuren is 9-5 in top-flight singles during her rookie campaign.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
· Saturday, February 28 – UMBC at Delaware – 6:30 p.m. – Elkton Indoor Tennis (Elkton, Md.)
· Thursday, March 12 – Delaware at Navy – Tose Family Tennis Center (Annapolis, Md.)
· Wednesday, March 18 – Delaware at Saint Joseph's – 2:30 p.m. – SJU Tennis Complex (Merion Station, Pa.)
Players Mentioned
