Marquette University
DePaul
Women's Tennis Upsets DePaul, 4-3
4/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 12, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Marquette University women's tennis team earned its first win over a ranked opponent since the 2001-02 season by upsetting No. 61 DePaul, 4-3, Saturday morning at the Eck Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame. The win helps the Golden Eagles to improve to 12-11 overall and 7-1 in BIG EAST play, while the Blue Demons suffer their first conference loss of the season, 16-5, 5-1 BIG EAST.
"The team played with such composure and confidence," said an elated Jody Bronson. "After losing the doubles point we regrouped and really came at them. This is what we have been striving for all season. We have come up short against some really good teams and I really proud of the ladies for getting it done today. Now, I hope this momentum carries over when we play Notre Dame and into the conference tournament."
After losing the doubles point, Marquette quickly tied the score, 1-1, with a win at No. 5 as freshman Rachael Hush defeated Beatrix Csordas, 6-3, 6-0. Junior Robin Metzler then fell to DePaul's Kirsten Gambrell at the No. 6 singles spot, 6-3, 6-3. freshman Christina Ruiz worked fast to take control of Katarina Milinkovic, 6-3, 6-0, and tie the match at two match points apiece. At the No. 2 singles position, senior Erin Watkins bowed to Bergana Ganeva, 6-2, 6-2.
With the Golden Eagles down 3-2 entering the final two singles matchups, MU needed to sweep the last two contests to capture the win. Junior Lauren Little dropped the first set at the No. 1 slot, 4-6, but bounced back to defeat Dunja Antunovic in the last two sets, 6-1, 6-4, to tie the match and put the focus on the Calbeto-Salkovic faceoff.
With the pressure on, No. 3 senior Maria Calbeto proved clutch for Marquette, winning the first set 6-2. The senior then fell to DePaul's Selma Salkovic 2-6 in the second set to put the match on the line. In a do-or-die third set, Calbeto won the match point for MU, defeating Salkovic, 6-2.
The Golden Eagles will close out the regular season Sunday morning when they take on No. 16 Notre Dame at 9 a.m.
Marquette 4, No. 61 DePaul 3
Singles competition:
1. Lauren Little (MARQ) def. Dunja Antunovic (DU) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. Bergana Ganeva (DU) def. Erin Watkins (MARQ) 6-2, 6-2
3. Maria Calbeto (MARQ) def. Selma Salkovic (DU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
4. Christina Ruiz (MARQ) def. Katarina Milinkovic (DU) 6-3, 6-0
5. Rachael Hush (MARQ) def. Beatrix Csordas (DU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Kirsten Gambrell (DU) def. Robin Metzler (MARQ) 6-3, 6-3
EXH. Maggie Wilson (MARQ) def. Anja Mihaldinec (DU) 7-5
Doubles competition:
1. Csordas/Salkovic (DU) def. Little/Brown (MARQ) 8-4
2. Antunovic/Gambrell (DU) def. Calbeto/Ruiz (MARQ) 8-7 (5)
3. Ganeva/Mihaldinec (DU) def. Hush/Watkins (MARQ) 8-5
Match notes:
DePaul: 16-5 overall, 5-1 BIG EAST
Marquette: 12-11 overall, 7-1 BIG EAST
Order of finish: Singles (5, 6, 4, 2, 1, 3)
Players Mentioned
