Feb. 22, 2009
IOWA CITY-
The University of Iowa women’s tennis team defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 5-2 in Iowa City Sunday.
Iowa duo of Lynne Poggensee-Wei and Kelcie Klockenga turned on the momentum for the Hawkeyes early on at the No. 2 doubles position. After trailing 3-6 to Kansas’ Ekaterina Morozova and Yuliana Svistun, the pair fought back to tie it up at 6-6 and went on to win the match 8-6. No. 1 doubles pair Sonja Molnar and Jessica Young finished next, falling to Edina Horvath and Kunigunda Dorn 6-8, after leading the match and allowing Kansas to tie it up at 6-6.
With the doubles matches split, the team point lay on the shoulders of Alexis Dorr and Ally Majercik at the No. 3 position. The match was tied for the length of the dual, pushing it into a tiebreaker. The Hawkeyes pulled out the win, going 7-2 in the tiebreaker and putting Iowa up 1-0 on the team standing.
The Hawkeyes carried their determination through to the singles competition, playing hard and getting points when they needed to. No. 5 singles Jessica Young posted a quick win over Maria Martinez 6-2, 6-2. Wins continued, with No. 4 Kelcie Klockenga defeating Yuliana Svistun 6-3, 6-0, and No. 1 Sonja Molnar dominating Edina Horvath 6-1, 6-1. The Hawkeyes clinched the win over Kansas with Molnar’s win. Then came singles win number four for Iowa, with No. 3 Lynne Poggensee-Wei defeating Kunigunda Dorn 6-2, 6-3 to bring the Hawkeyes up 5-0 against the Jayhawks.
No. 2 Alexis Dorr battled with Ekaterina Morozova, losing the first set by a close score of 4-6, but came from behind to win the second set 6-4, to take it into a 10-point tiebreaker. Dorr was ultimately defeated, falling 10-4 in the tiebreaker.
After two long sets, Ally Majercik fell 5-7, 5-7 to Erin Wilbert in the No. 6 position to round out the meet for the Hawkeyes.
“That was a great win for us today,” said Hawkeye Head Coach Daryl Greenan. “We lost a few tough matches to good teams recently, but the important thing is that we have been playing a little better tennis every match. Persistence paid off today and we picked up a good win over a solid Kansas team.”
Iowa will return to the courts March 1, hosting Minnesota at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center. Competition is slated to begin at 11 a.m.
Doubles Competition
1. Edina Horvath/Kunigunda Dorn (Kansas) def. Jessica Young/Sonja Molnar (Iowa) 8-6
2. Lynne Poggensee-Wei/Kelcie Klockenga (Iowa) def. Ekaterina Morozova/Yuliana Svistun (Kansas) 8-6
3. Alexis Dorr/Ally Majercik (Iowa) def. Erin Wilbert/Alessandra Dzuba (Kansas) 9-8 (7-2)
Singles Competition
1. Sonja Molnar (Iowa) def. Edina Horvath (Kansas) 6-1, 6-1
2. Ekaterina Morozova (Kansas) def. Alexis Dorr (Iowa) 6-4, 3-6, (10-4)
3. Lynne Poggensee-Wei (Iowa) def. Kunigunda Dorn (Kansas) 6-2, 6-4
4. Kelcie Klockenga (Iowa) def. Yuliana Svistun (Kansas) 6-3, 6-0
5. Jessica Young (Iowa) def. Maria Martinez (Kansas) 6-2, 6-2
6. Erin Wilbert (Kansas) def. Ally Majercik (Iowa) 7-5, 7-5
Match Notes
University of Iowa 5-5; National Ranking No. 58
University of Kansas 4-3; National Ranking No. 75
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (5,4,1,3,2,6)