Women's Tennis Beats Wake Forest

Sunday, February 24

Winston Salem, N.C.

12:00 PM

University of Louisville

Wake Forest

February 24, 2013 | Women's Tennis

Feb. 24, 2013

The University of Louisville women's tennis team won the doubles and all but two singles matches to beat Wake Forest 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.

"We showed quite a bit of mental toughness today. Once again after losing a tough match, the team put it behind them and competed really well today," said U of L head coach Mark Beckham. "The rest of our season is going to be close matches like this, so it is good to know that we can win in tough situations away from home."

The Cardinals improve to 9-3 while the Demon Deacons drop to 1-6 on the season following the loss.

In doubles play, Louisville jumped ahead early with a victory at the top spot as Julia Fellerhoff and Rebecca Shine downed Kathryn Talbert and Kasey Gardiner 9-7, but Wake Forest responded with a win at No. 2 courtesy of Xue Zhang and Andrea Retolaza, who dropped Mandy Brown and Stefanie Villajuan 8-6 to even the doubles score.

No. 3 doubles proved to be the clinching match for the point as Louisville's Manuela Velasquez and Rebecca Bodine won 8-4 over Brigita Bercyte and Karen Forman as the Cardinals picked up an early 1-0 lead in the overall match.

Forman came out firing for the Deacons at No. 5 singles, quickly evening the overall match at 1-1 by dispatching Stefanie Villajuan of the Cardinals 6-2, 6-4.

The Cardinals struck back with two swift wins of their own at the No. 3 and No. 6 spots. Bercyte was downed by Bodine 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6 and Mandy Brown beat Retolaza 7-5, 6-0 at No. 3. With those victories, Louisville pushed ahead to claim a 3-1 lead, needing just one more win to clinch the overall match.

Gardiner, playing at No. 2 singles, dropped her first set against Shine but battled back to claim the second. After splitting, the pair moved to a decisive third set. Shine grabbed the early advantage and managed to hold on for the 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win to give the Cardinals the overall victory.

With the match decided, Talbert and Zhang opted to play out the final two matches, both of which went the distance for three sets. Julia Fellerhoff beat Talbert, at No. 1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Zhang, in the longest match of the day, staved off a match point by Manuela Velasquez in the final set and triumphed in the day's lone tiebreaker to earn an 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory in the three-set battle.

Tennis Match ResultsLouisville vs Wake ForestFeb 24, 2013 at Winston-Salem, N.C.(Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
Louisville 5, Wake Forest 2
Singles Competition1. Julia Fellerhoff (UL) def. Kathryn Talbert (WF) 5-7, 6-4, 6-22. Rebecca Shine (UL) def. Kasey Gardiner (WF) 6-3, 4-6, 6-23. Xue Zhang (WF) def. Manuela Velasquez (UL) 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)4. Mandy Brown (UL) def. Andrea Retolaza (WF) 7-5, 6-05. Karen Forman (WF) def. Stefanie Villajuan (UL) 6-2, 6-46. Rebecca Bodine (UL) def. Brigita Bercyte (WF) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles Competition1. Julia Fellerhoff/Rebecca Shine (UL) def. Kathryn Talbert/Kasey Gardiner (WF) 9-72. Andrea Retolaza/Xue Zhang (WF) def. Mandy Brown/Stefanie Villajuan (UL) 8-63. Manuela Velasquez/Rebecca Bodine (UL) def. Brigita Bercyte/Karen Forman (WF) 8-4
Match Notes:Louisville 9-3Wake Forest 1-6Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3*); Singles (5,6,4,2*,1,3)T-3:40  A-37