Box Score EDMOND, Okla. – Despite battling ice and other issues on their way to Edmond, Okla., for the 2022 DII ITA National Indoor Team Championships, the No. 2 UIndy women's tennis team came out victorious on day one of competition. The Greyhounds rallied back from being down 3-1 to eventually win against the fourth-ranked and seventh-seeded Nova Southeastern Sharks, tallying three straight singles victories to finish the match, 4-3.
The final point to capture the victory and to send the Hounds to the semifinals was in the hands of
Arina Amaning. The graduate transfer from the University of Southern Mississippi, who after falling in set one in a to-the-wire tiebreak, battled back in set two with a tiebreak victory of her own to even the score. Set three however, showed the experience of Amaning, who sealed the deal with a convincing 6-3 victory.
Prior to that final point the Hounds had opened with doubles. The pair of
Anna Novikova and Amaning fell 6-1 to open doubles, but the Hounds would not falter.
Maria Solnyshkina and
Maissane Aik put the team back in the win column after a 6-3 final over their Shark adversaries. Finally, to capture the doubles point,
Isabella Dunlap and
Sofia Sharonova combined for a 6-4 win to send the Hounds into singles up a point.
The Sharks opened singles on fire, as Aik fell in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 and shortly after Novikova met the same fate with a 6-4, 6-3 loss. Dunlap was the final Hound to fall, with a straight set match in favor of NSU.
Even with their backs to the wall, the Greyhounds fought tooth and nail back into the match.
Kristina Lagoda in the five slot for singles, opened with a tight first set that resulted in a 7-6 tiebreak in favor of UIndy. She followed that up with a quality set two, winning 6-4 to make match score 3-2.
To even the score was the freshman
Lea Cakarevic, who opened set one with fire as she stormed to a 6-2 win. Nika Kozar of the Sharks kept that pace high with a 6-1 set two win. To seal the deal and even the match, Cakarevic battled through another tight third set, winning a four-point tiebreak.
HOUND BYTES
Head Coach Malik Tabet on Amaning's clinching of the match…
"I felt really good about the way she fought the match. It was it was a lot of ups and downs but at the end, she did a really good job in pulling this match off; experience played a lot. She really made some big shots. I was very impressed."
Tabet on his team's ability to fight through the challenges…
"We felt like we dug in and we fought. It was a really good battle, and it was a good match for our team to play together, to play tough, and to play tight. And in the end, Lea does a really a great job winning that match 7-6 in the third. She battled some tough points, and then Arina slowly got back into the match. It was just a good match."
UP NEXT
The Hounds move on to face the No. 3-seeded Central Oklahoma Broncos in the national semifinal. Start time is set for 6:30 p.m. ET.
