With two 4-3 victories, including one for the history books, West Virginia Women’s Tennis was on a roll this weekend.
The two-day road trip opened with a match at Marshall on Saturday, which WVU took to secure a 3-0 start to the season. The following day, West Virginia defeated Virginia Tech for the first time since 1992. Both matches ended with a 4-3 score.
The Mountaineers took the lead early over Marshall, securing the doubles point with two 6-2 wins from the pairs of Michaela Kucharova and Momoko Nagato and Maya Bordereau and Maja Dodik. Ting-Pei Chang and Camilla Bossi led 5-3 when their match was stopped.
Nagato and Bordereau each carried her success into singles, finishing the day’s first two matches with WVU victories. Bordereau’s court five win put the Mountaineers up 3-0, needing just one more victory to secure the match.
The Thundering Herd captured WVU’s momentum in the two highest-ranked matches, though. Junior Camilla Bossi, who made her season debut Saturday after playing professionally in the fall, fell 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to Johanna Strom on court one just after graduate student Love-Star Alexis fell to Emma Vanderheyden 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Soon after, though, redshirt sophomore Maja Dodik cut off any chances for a Marshall comeback, defeating Emily Schut 6-2, 6-0 to give WVU its fourth point. Marshall’s Rieke Gillar took down graduate student Ting-Pei Chang 3-6, 7 (7)-6 (4), 6-2 to end the day, but WVU already secured its first weekend victory.
Sunday, the Mountaineers traveled to Blacksburg, Va. to play Virginia Tech. For the first time this spring, WVU lost the doubles point, as the Hokies defeated Nagato and Kucharova 6-3 and Chang and Bossi 6-2. Dodik and Bordereau trailed 5-4 as doubles concluded.
Looking to improve from Saturday, Camilla Bossi made sure Virginia Tech’s lead was short-lived, as she won her court one match convincingly, 6-2, 6-0 over Özlem Uslu. The Hokies went up 2-1 as the next match ended, though, as Dodik fell 6-2, 6-4.
Like Bossi, Love-Star Alexis made sure her weekend did not end winless, as she took down Katie Andreini 6-4, 7-6 (6) to tie the team match. Bordereau, the freshman, then won 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to remain undefeated in singles for the season.
Shortly after, Nagato fell to Tamara Barad Itzhaki 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, tying Virginia Tech and West Virginia at three points each. The final point was determined by the sixth-position players, Erika Cheng for the Hokies and junior Tatiana Lipatova for WVU.
Lipatova, who played her second match of the season Sunday, took the first set 7-6 but fell 6-3 in the next. With the match on the line, though Lipatova did not disappoint and dominated Cheng 6-1 to give WVU its fifth win ever over Virginia Tech.
The Mountaineers begin their third straight weekend with two matches on Friday at home against Indiana at 2 p.m. They will play Saturday at 11 a.m. against VCU.
Scores vs. Marshall
Doubles Results
- Michaela Kucharova/Momoko Nagato (WVU) def. Johanna Strom/Emma Vanderheyden (MU), 6-2
- Camilla Bossi/Ting-Pei Chang (WVU) vs. Gabrielle Clairotte/Rieke Gillar (MU), 5-3 (unfinished)
- Maja Dodik/Maya Bordereau (WVU) def. Doroteja Joksovic/Emily Schut (MU), 6-2
Singles Results
- Johanna Strom (MU) def. Camilla Bossi (WVU), 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
- Emma Vanderheyden (MU) def. Love-Star Alexis (WVU), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
- Momoko Nagato (WVU) def. Doroteja Joksovic (MU), 6-2, 6-4
- Rieke Gillar (MU) def. Ting-Pei Chang (WVU), 3-6, 7 (7)-6 (4), 6-2
- Maya Bordereau (WVU) def. Aisling McGrane, 6-3, 6-4
- Maja Dodik (WVU) def. Emily Schut, 6-2, 6-0
Scores vs. Virginia Tech
Doubles Results
- Katie Andreini/Dariya Radulova (VT) def. Michaela Kucharova/Momoko Nagato (WVU), 6-3
- Semra Aksu/Erika Cheng (VT) def. Camilla Bossi/Ting-Pei Chang (WVU), 6-2
- Maja Dodik/Maya Bordereau (WVU) vs. Charlotte Cartledge/Ozlem Uslu (VT), 4-5 (unfinished)
Singles Results
- Camilla Bossi (WVU) def. Ozlem Uslu (VT), 6-2, 6-0
- Love-Star Alexis (WVU) def. No. 101 Katie Andreini (VT), 6-4, 7-6 (6)
- Tamara Barad Itzhaki (VT) def. Momoko Nagato (WVU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
- Maya Bordereau (WVU) def. Semra Aksu (VT), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
- Dariya Radulova (VT) def. Maja Dodik (WVU), 6-2, 6-4
- Tatiana Lipatova (WVU) def. Erika Cheng (VT), 7-6, 3-6, 6-1
Photo from WVU Women’s Tennis
