April 28, 2011
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. – – The University of Iowa women’s tennis team dropped a 4-2 decision against Minnesota (8-15 overall, 3-7 Big Ten) Thursday in the first round of the 2011 Big Ten Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament. The ninth-seeded Hawkeyes finish the season with a 6-16 record.
“It was a hard fought doubles point and we put ourselves in a good position going into singles,” said head coach Katie Dougherty. “I’ve got to give Minnesota a lot of credit, they had their backs against the wall and did a great job of battling. The match was hanging in the balance there for a while and they stepped up before, and more, than we did.”
Iowa, 0-2 in matches played at neutral sites, won two of three doubles matches to claim an early 1-0 lead. After falling in the first match, junior Sonja Molnar and senior Jessica Young topped Alessandra Ferrazzi and Natallia Pintusava 8-5 at the No. 1 position to earn the first Hawkeye victory. Molnar and Young, ranked No. 29 by the ITA, improved to 13-6 in dual matches. Senior Alexis Dorr and freshman Christina Harazin would secure the doubles point with a 9-7 victory over Alexa Palen and Mariana Spilca at the No. 2 spot. The Iowa duo trailed 7-4 before running off five unanswered points to earn the victory.
Minnesota, the tournament’s No. 8 seed, would take control of the match in singles, winning four-of-five matches. The lone Hawkeye victory came courtesy of Molnar, the No. 103 player in the country. Molnar defeated No. 83 Pintusava 6-2, 6-1 at the No. 1 position to avenge an Oct. 24 loss (2-6, 6-1, 6-2) at the ITA Central Regional. Molnar improved to 4-0 in dual matches against the Golden Gophers in her career. The Guelph, Ontario, native has won her last three matches, moving to 16-6 in dual matches this season.
Freshman Christina Harazin played a competitive match against Doron Muravnik at the No. 5 position, falling 6-4, 7-5. Four days ago, Harazin fell to Muravnik 6-0, 6-3 in the regular season finale.
#8 Minnesota (8-15, 3-7) – 4
#9 Iowa (6-16, 3-7) – 2
Doubles:
No. 1 — No. 29 Sonja Molnar/Jessica Young (IOWA) def. Alessandra Ferrazzi/Natallia Pintusava (MINN), 8-5
No. 2 — Alexis Dorr/Christina Harazin (IOWA) def. Alexa Palen/Mariana Spilca (MINN), 9-7
No. 3 — Peta Forsyth/Magdalena Wiecha (MINN) def. Lynne Pogensee-Wei/Ally Majercik (IOWA), 8-5
Singles:
No. 1 — No. 103 Sonja Molnar (IOWA) def. No. 83 Natallia Pintusava (MINN), 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 — Alexa Palen (MINN) def. Jessica Young (IOWA), 6-0, 6-2
No. 3 — Alessadra Ferrazzi (MINN) def. Lynne Poggensee-Wei (IOWA), 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 — Magdalena Wiecha (MINN) vs. Alexis Dorr (IOWA), 2-6, 6-3, 2-1, abandoned
No. 5 — Doron Muravnik (MINN) def. Christina Harazin (IOWA), 6-4, 7-5
No. 6 — Yuliana Umanets (MINN) def. Cassandra Escobar (IOWA), 6-0, 6-4