Lady Hokies Tennis Triumphs Over Spiders

by Natalie Gardner

March, 19, 2008

On Wednesday the Hokie women's tennis team returned to Blacksburg to face in-state rival University of Richmond Spiders.

The match began with doubles. Hokies Jessica Brouwer, senior, and Holly Johnson, sophomore, faced Richmond's Pamela Duran and Erin Clark. The Hokies started off strong, winning the first three sets. However, the Spiders rallied back and won the next three sets.

The Hokies' confidence, and Brouwer's serve, took a bit of a beating, and the Hokies and the Spiders went back and forth for the next few set wins. Tech rallied to win the last three sets and thus the match (8-5).

The other two doubles matches included Hokies Inga Beermann, senior, and Martha Blakely, freshman, winning over Ashlee Vosters and Kelly Tidwell (8-5), and Hokies Yasmin Hamza, sophomore, and Abby Walker, senior, defeating Helen Cunningham and Isabel Arana (Hokies won 8-6).

After Tech swept the doubles matches singles play began. On court one Beermann faced Duran. Duran took a strong lead, taking the first three sets. But Beermann rallied back, winning the next four sets and eventually the match (6-3, 2-6, 6-4).

The Spiders won two of the singles matches, however, Cunningham beating Hamza (6-2, 6-3) and Joanna Matuszczyk defeating Johnson (7-5, 6-4).  In other action, Brouwer defeated Clark (6-4, 3-6, 7-5); Blakely won over Tidwell (7-5, 6-2), and Courtney Rauscher, freshman, beat Vosters (6-1, 6-3).

The Hokies took home the win. The final score 5-2.

The Hokies will travel to South Carolina on Saturday to take on the Clemson Tigers at 11 a.m..