Women's Tennis Beats Middle Tennessee State

Thursday, February 26

Louisville, Ky.

2:00 PM

University of Louisville

Middle Tennessee State

February 26, 2009 | Women's Tennis

Feb. 26, 2009

The University of Louisville women's tennis team defeated the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders 6-1 Thursday evening at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

"Anytime you get a win it's a good thing," U of L head coach Mark Beckham said. "I personally feel with this win we could have done some things better. The score may look like it was a fairly comfortable match but it was much together than the score shows. I have to let this team know that because of the slow start we had our margin of error is very slim. Every day we play the rest of the season it's almost like it's a season changing match. We have to take every match as if it's the last match of our lives and we have to make sure we play with that kind of pressure. If we handle it the right way, I think we can have good success the rest of the season."

The Cards improve to 5-6 on the season, including three straight wins and a perfect 5-0 record at home.

"There is an obvious comfort level [playing at home]," Beckham said. "This is where we practice everyday. These courts are faster than the majority of the places out there so when teams come here they have to adjust. More than anything we are just more comfortable here than when we have to travel."

Louisville got on the board early by sweeping all three of the doubles matches. Playing at the No. 1 spot, the senior duo of Bianca Gorbea and Natalia Baez defeated Marlene Chemin and Marietta Bigus 8-4. Junior Jo-Ann Van Aerde and senior Lindsey Jones knocked off Taylor Coffey and Natalie Araya 8-3, while freshmen Amelia Harris and Sarah Miller wrapped up the sweep with an 8-4 victory over Anna Djananova and Alexandra Dachos.

In singles, the Cards won five of the six courts to seal the match. Junior Lauren Imre clinched the match with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Djananova, her fourth straight win in singles play.

"She's on a little streak right now," Beckham said. "I'm happy for her. She's starting to get some wins under her belt. She's starting to show how good of a player she is. I always knew it was there and she always knew it was there but her results weren't quite weren't showing it. Hopefully with these wins she can show everyone how good she really is."

Gorbea and freshman Sarah Miller each won their singles match in straight sets, defeating Andrea Herrera and Chemin respectively. Jones defeated Bigus 4-6, 6-2 (3) while Baez took out Araya 6-7, 6-4 (4). The Blue Raiders lone point belonged to Coffey with a win over Van-Aerde 6-3, 6-2.

The Cards will now get two weeks off before returning home to take on Xavier on March 13th and Rice on the 14th at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center.

Singles1.  Lindsey Jones (UL) def. Marietta Bigus (MTSU) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (3)2.  Bianca Gorbea (UL) def. Andrea Herrera (MTSU) 6-3, 6-13.  Lauren Imre (UL) def. Anna Djananova (MTSU) 6-0, 6-34.  Natalia Baez (UL) def. Natalie Araya (MTSU) 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (4)5.  Taylor Coffey (MTSU) def. Jo-Ann Van Aerde (UL) 6-3, 6-26.  Sarah Miller (UL) def. Marlene Chemin (MTSU) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles1.  Gorbea/Baez (UL) def. Chemin/Bigus (MTSU) 8-42.  Van-Aerde/Jones (UL) def. Coffey/Araya (MTSU) 8-33.  Harris/Miller (UL) def. Djananova/Dachos (MTSU) 8-4