BOX SCORE
WINSTON-SALEM, NC-- The Lady Eagles' tennis team got back to winning fashion by knocking off Wake Forest 4-3 Friday afternoon at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex. Coming into today's match, Winthrop had dropped three straight to nationally ranked opponents. This is the first non-ranked team Winthrop has played since beating Wofford 7-0 back on Jan. 13th.
Winthrop got off to a quick start in the doubles matches with the No. 3 position
Ekin Gunaysu (Ankara, Turkey) and
Caitlin Cridland (Perth, Australia) defeating Andrea Retolaza and Brigita Bercyte 8-1. The No. 2 position finished the doubles round with Giovanna Portioli (Curitiba, Brazil) and
Alice Garcia (Brasilia, Brazil) beating Xue Zhang and Karen Forman 8-4. This suspended the No. 1's match which featured
Yasmine Alkema (Algiers, Algeria) and
Andressa Garcia (Sao Paulo, Brazil) against Kathryn Talbert and Kasey Gardiner. When the match was suspended Alkema and Garcia were leading 6-5.
The reigning Big South Player of the Week, No. 95
Yasmine Alkema kept the momentum rolling as she defeated Kathryn Talbert 6-1, 6-3 in the No. 1 singles match. The No. 5 match ended next with
Caitlin Cridland losing to Karen Forman 5-7, 4-6. In the No. 3 match, freshman
Alice Garcia upset the No. 125 player in the nation, Andrea Retolaza 7-6, 2-6, 6-1. The No. 6 spot finished next with
Ekin Gunaysu losing to Brigita Bercyte 0-6, 6-2, 6-7.
In the No. 3 seeds match Giovanna Portioli defeated Xue Zhang 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 to give Winthrop the decisive 4th point to clinch the match. Finishing the singles play was the No. 2 position,
Andressa Garcia fell in a tough match to Kasey Gardiner 4-6, 7-5, 4-6.
"It was a great match, I'm so proud of how hard our players fought to come up with the win at the end." said coach
Cid Carvalho. "The doubles turned out to be the decisive point. We are looking forward to our trip to play Marshall and Penn State next week."
As previously stated by Coach Carvalho, the Lady Eagles tennis team is back at action this coming up weekend as the team heads to Huntington, WV to play Marshall at 4:00 pm on Friday, Feb. 15th and currently 48th ranked Penn State on Saturday, Feb. 16th.
