Tampa Tennis Loses Close Match To #25 Rollins
Tampa, Fla. - The University of Tampa's Women's Tennis team was back in action this afternoon to celebrate senior day and take on the Rollins College Tars. The Spartans were celebrating Seniors Tal Zinn and Victoria Sanchez for their hard work and dedication to the women;s tennis program. With the senior day atmosphere in the air, the Spartans battled hard with the nationally ranked Tars.
Final: #25 Rollins College Tars 4, University of Tampa Spartans 3
Location: Naimoli Tennis Complex | Tampa, Fla.
Records: Tampa (2-13, 0-8 SSC), #25 Rollins (11-6 4-4 SSC)
History: This was the 35th all-time matchup between these two programs. With the loss Tampa is still behind in the series 4-31.
How it Happened:
Today's match was an electric back and forth contest between the Spartans and Tars. With senior day, a top 25 team in town, and good momentum after the previous match, Tampa was due for a solid match from start to finish. Starting with doubles play, Tampa showed zero fear responding to every Rollins set point. All three doubles courts were deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the fifth set with Tampa threatening to take the first point of the match. The pairs of Nicole Cierniak/Victoria Sanchez and Regina Davalos/Sophie Wagner began to find separation as they each one the next two sets to take a 4-2 lead. Both pairs went on to win their respective courts 6-4 to earn the doubles win for Tampa. Rollins was able to avoid the sweep in an extra set 7-5 win in court two but the Spartans took a 1-0 lead into singles play. As the match transitioned to singles play, Rollins continued to build off the last doubles court win. They started singles play by winning the first three courts to take a 3-1 match lead but the Spartans were not ready to lay down their swords. Victoria Sanchez and Sophia Gutkowski gave the Spartans life by defeating their opponents and tied the match at three a piece. Unfortunately for Tampa, Rollins was able to take the final court of play in three sets to win the match. Despite the loss, Tampa went toe to toe with yet another nationally ranked program and can use today's positives heading into the final three matches of the year.
Doubles Results: 2-1 Tampa - One Point
| 1. Nicole Cierniak/Victoria Sanchez (UT) def. Nancy Liu/Polina Vlasova (RCW) 6-4 |
| 2. Milla Falster/Stella Fruijtier (RCW) def. Alexandra Chebli/Tal Zinn (UT) 7-5 |
| 3. Regina Davalos/Sophie Wagner (UT) def. Amina Abdulloeva/Sydney Eckstein (RCW) 6-4 |
Singles Results: 4-2 Rollins - Four Points
| 1. Victoria Sanchez (UT) def. Nancy Liu (RCW) 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) |
| 2. Sophia Gutkowski (UT) def. Polina Vlasova (RCW) 6-4, 6-2 |
| 3. Milla Falster (RCW) def. Alexandra Chebli (UT) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 4. Nina Mitrofanova (RCW) def. Sophie Wagner (UT) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 |
| 5. Amina Abdulloeva (RCW) def. Regina Davalos (UT) 6-1, 6-0 |
| 6. Stella Fruijtier (RCW) def. Tal Zinn (UT) 6-1, 6-2 |
UP NEXT: Tampa's Tennis team will be back in action next week when the Spartans take on West Florida. This match will take place in Valdosta, Georgia on Saturday April 12th and 1:00pm.