FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The No. 17 Nova Southeastern tennis team (5-8) lost a battle between top 20 teams Tuesday, falling to the No. 9 California (Pa.) Vulcans (6-6), 6-3, at the NSU Tennis Complex.
The Sharks took two singles wins and one doubles point on the day. The doubles win came in the third draw from
Linda Kornienko (Fr., Fort Myers, Fla.) and
Bianca Roberts (So., Tampa, Fla.). The duo defeated Maxime Colen and Elizabeth Guy decisively, 8-2.
The other two doubles matches were close, but ultimately went California’s way.
Austin Lavallii (Sr., Williamston, Mich.) and
Sabrina Kierberg (Fr., Berlin, Germany) lost to the eighth-ranked doubles team of Lucie Sipkova and Lucie Rey, 8-5. The Sharks fell in a hole after Sophomores
Alexandra Johansson (Sydney, Australia) and
Charlotte Cote (Montreal, Canada) lost to Ramona Czakon and Alexandra Borgenhoff, 8-6.
In singles play, the Sharks shuffled their lineup and earned two victories, one of which came in a marathon match at the top. Johansson faced Sipkova, in a battle between preseason nationally ranked players. The match went to a third set, after the Vulcan took the first and Johansson took the second, each by a score of 6-3. In a tiebreaking final set, Johansson won a nail-biter by a score of 14-12.
The Sharks would take another win in the sixth flight. Lavallii was scratched from singles play, allowing Roberts to move in as a late sub. The moved proved correct, as Roberts defeated Colen, 6-1, 6-3.
However, the Sharks lost key matches down the stretch that cost NSU the match. Czakon dominated the second draw match against Kornienko, 6-0, 6-0. Cote also struggled against a top-25 individually ranked opponent in Borgenhoff, 6-3, 6-1. In the fifth flight,
Luisa Pintado (Fr., Guadalajara, Mexico) lost to Jade Pondicas, 6-2, 6-1.
The Sharks’ closest loss came in the fourth draw, as
Carlee Rizzolo (Fr., Livingston, N.J.) played in her first singles match since Feb. 27. Rizzolo lost the first set, 7-6 (7-0), before coming back to win the second, 3-6. She would fall in a tiebreaker, 10-4.
The Sharks will be back in action on Thursday to host Towson at 1 p.m.
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