St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Yale
Women's Tennis Falls At Yale To Open Spring Season
2/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 2, 2009
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The St. John's women's tennis team opened the 2009 spring season with a 7-0 loss to Yale on Sunday at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center on the campus of the defending Ivy League champions. With the loss, the Red Storm starts the year 0-1, while the Bulldogs improve to 3-0.
Yale won the doubles point with a straight sweep of all three positions. At No. 3, freshman Ksenia Mikhaylova and senior Gabija Gasiunaite put up a tough fight against the Bulldogs' Lilian Nguyen and Lauren Ritz, but fell short of picking up the first Red Storm victory of the day, falling 8-5. Yale took a 1-0 lead in the match going into singles competition.
In singles, freshmen Joanna Zwirbulis and Nakita Austin were strong at the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, respectively, but could not overcome the tough Bulldog lineup. At the No. 6 singles spot, sophomore Jenny Yonkus was in a very tight match with Nguyen, splitting the first two sets by winning the first, 6-4, and dropping the second, 7-5. In the third set tiebreaker, Yonkus lost 10-8.
The Red Storm returns to action with a BIG EAST contest against Pittsburgh. STJ will travel to the Steel City on Feb. 7 for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with the Panthers.
Yale 7, St. John's 0
Sunday, Feb. 1, 2009
Cullman-Heyman Center - New Haven, Conn.
Doubles
1. Janet Kim/Jessica Rhee (Yale) def. Ira Aleksova/Jenny Yonkus (STJ), 8-3
2. Stevi Petrelli/Sarah Lederhandler (Yale) def. Ece Firat/Joanna Zwirbulis (STJ), 8-3
3. Lilian Nguyen/Lauren Ritz (Yale) def. Gabija Gasiunaite/Ksenia Mikhaylova (STJ), 8-5
Yale wins doubles point, leads match 1-0
Singles
1. Janet Kim (Yale) def. Ira Aleksova (STJ), 6-0, 6-1
2. Jessica Rhee (Yale) def. Ksenia Mikhaylova (STJ), 6-0, 6-1
3. Sarah Lederhandler (Yale) def. Ece Firat (STJ), 6-3, 6-4
4. Stevi Petrelli (Yale) def. Joanna Zwirbulis (STJ), 7-5, 6-2
5. Lauren Ritz (Yale) def. Nakita Austin (STJ), 6-3, 7-5
6. Lilian Nguyen (Yale) def. Jenny Yonkus (STJ), 4-6, 7-5, 10-8
Players Mentioned
