Sept. 24, 2010
WATERLOO, Iowa –The University of Iowa women’s tennis team began its season at the UNI Invite Friday. Hawkeye doubles and singles both opened their season in dominate fashion despite battling with strong winds. The team ended day one of competition with a 5-1 record overall in doubles competition and an 8-0 record in singles play.
“I’m pleased with how we competed today,” noted Head Coach Katie Dougherty. “Our goal was to go undefeated in both singles and doubles and we were able to do that in singles. There were tough conditions out there today with the wind and the team did a great job of adapting to the elements and making adjustments.”
Junior Sonja Molnar and senior Lynne Poggensee-Wei won both of their matches, beating Dennis/Rogers of Northern Illinois 8-2 and Langhorst/Reber of Iowa State 8-4. Freshman Christina Harazin and senior Jessica Young opened their season with an 8-2 victory over Bradley’s Miller/Rodefeld before falling to Ritchie/Weber of Missouri 8-4. Senior Alexis Dorr and junior Cassandra Escobar teamed to post an 8-1 victory over Roth/Graf of Bradley after receiving a first round bye. Junior Ally Majercik, playing with Northern Iowa’s Stefannia Sampaio, downed Welk/Sween of North Dakota 8-1. Majercik and Sampaio also received a first round bye.
The Hawkeyes posted a perfect record in singles play. Molnar defeated Nicole Miller of Bradley 6-3, 6-1. Poggensee-Wei downed Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Maddy Soule 7-6, 6-4. Young posted a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 win over Steph Petsis of North Dakota. Dorr won her match 6-1, 6-1 over South Dakota’s Alena Sergeychik. Majercik was victorious in both of her matches, beating Beth Ganser of Wisconsin-Milwaukee 6-4, 6-1 and Megan Sween of North Dakota 6-0, 6-1. Harazin and Escobar both posted wins in their Hawkeye debuts. Harazin beat Kelly Phillips of Northern Illinois 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. Escobar downed South Dakota State’s Bethany Goeden 6-1, 6-1 after receiving a first round bye.
Tournament action will resume Saturday at 9:00 a.m. at Byrnes Park in Waterloo.
Singles: Sonja Molnar (Iowa) def. Miller (BU) 6-3, 6-1 Lynne Poggensee-Wei (Iowa) def. Soule (UWM) 7-6, 6-4 Jessica Young (Iowa) def. Petsis (UND) 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 Alexis Dorr (Iowa) def. Sergeychik (USD) 6-1, 6-1 Christina Harazin (Iowa) def. Phillips (NIU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 Ally Majercik (Iowa) def. Ganser (UWM) 6-4, 6-1 Ally Majercik (Iowa) def. Sween (UND) 6-0, 6-1 Cassandra Escobar (Iowa) def. Goeden (SDSU) 6-1, 6-1
Doubles: Molnar /Poggensee-Wei (Iowa) def. Dennis/Rogers (NIU) 8-2 Molnar /Poggensee-Wei (Iowa) def. Langhorst/Reber (ISU) 8-4 Harazin/Young (Iowa) def. Miller/Rodefeld (BU) 8-2 Ritchie/Weber (MIZZ) def. Harazin/Young (Iowa) 8-4 Dorr/Escobar (Iowa) def. Roth/Graf (BU) 8-1 Majercik (Iowa)/Sampio (UNI) def. Welk/Sween (UND) 8-1