Akron, Ohio – The UMBC women's tennis team started the fall in fine fashion, as they won seven of nine matches on the first day of the Akron Shootout.
The Retrievers took five of six singles matches from Cleveland State and captured two of three doubles matches over the host Zips.
In singles, freshman Maria Siopacha (Limassol, Cyprus) made an impressive debut, defeating CSU's Morgan Nix, 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 2 singles flight. Junior Hanna Victorsson (Hagersten, Sweden) and sophomore Laura Ambrozic (Portoroz, Slovenia) also won in straight sets at Nos. 5 and 6 singles respectively.
At the No. 2 flight, junior Mariami Dolashvili (Alushta, Ukraine) bounced back from a tough first set to defeat Princess Gbadonesi, 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8), as did No. 4 senior Madlena Kurasz (Zlotoryja, Poland), who fell 6-4 in the first set, before rallying to triumph, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7) over Victoria Bensimon.
In doubles play, Siopacha and Dolashvili overwhelmed the Akron duo of Karalina Maksimava/Ariadra Blinova, by a 6-1 count at the No. 1 flight. Victorsson and sophomore Charlotte Tonjann (Bussum, The Netherlands) combined to take out the tandem of Martina Zerbola/Shannon Newnes, 6-2.
On Saturday, Sept. 19, UMBC takes on Youngstown State in doubles and at 1 p.m., UA hosts the Retrievers in singles action. On Sunday, Sept. 20, YSU and UMBC square off in singles at 9 a.m. and in doubles action at noon, Cleveland State takes on the Retrievers.
Akron Shootout
UMBC 5, Cleveland State 1 (singles)
No. 1 Mariami Dolashvili, UMBC def. Princess Gbadonesi, CSU, 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (8)
No. 2 Maria Siopacha, UMBC def. Morgan Nix, CSU, 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Mathilde Orange, CSU def. Alice Taylor, UMBC, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (5)
No. 4 Madlena Kurasz, UMBC def. Victoria Bensimon, CSU, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (7)
No. 5 Hanna Victorsson, UMBC def. Jana Schober, CSU, 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 Laura Ambrozic, UMBC def. Katy Quillin, CSU, 6-1, 6-1
UMBC 2, Akron 1 (doubles)
No. 1 Siopacha/Dolashvili, UMBC def. Karalina Maksimava/Ariadra Blinova, A, 6-1
No. 2 Victorsson/Charlotte Tonjann, UMBC def. Martina Zerbola/Shannon Newnes, A, 6-2
No. 3 Luisa Echeverry/Waverly Witaski, A, def. Ambrozic/Taylor, UMBC, 6-4
