Georgia Southern University
Kennesaw State
Women's Tennis Opens Home Slate With 5-2 Win Over KSU
2/2/2024 5:23:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Georgia Southern off to a 5-0 start, second-best start in program history
STATESBORO - Georgia Southern women's tennis is off to just the second 5-0 start in program history after opening up its home schedule with a 5-2 win over Kennesaw State on Friday afternoon at the Wallis Tennis Center.
The Eagles picked up a win over Kennesaw State (0-2) in the first meeting between the two in-state schools since 2020. Georgia Southern has now won six straight in the series as well.
Kennesaw State was the team that struck first in the match, capturing the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. The Eagles did get a win at No. 2 doubles as the duo of Ninon Martinache and Sonja Keranen picked up a 6-4 win over Izabelle Persson and Sophia Unger.
In singles, the Eagles took an early advantage by winning four of six first sets. A 6-2, 6-0 win by Lindsay Tulenko at No. 3 singles over Sofia Madrid tied up the match, then a 6-2, 6-3 win by Paula Hijos over Persson at No. 6 singles made the score 2-1.
Martinache also picked up a straight set win, 6-4, 6-4 over Ema Baraniakova at No. 2 singles, while Kennesaw made it a 3-2 match with a win at No. 4 singles. The final two singles matches ended up going to three sets.
Mackenzie Leopold clinched the victory with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 win over Ivana Gresova at No. 5 singles, then Silvia Martinez put a cap on the day with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Taylor Dean at No. 1 singles.
"Kennesaw is an extremely solid team," Georgia Southern head women's tennis coach Sean McCaffrey said. "We needed to dig deep in third sets from Silvi and Mac to pull that match out. I feel like we had really solid doubles today out of Ninon and Sonja but still just came up short. We will need to do a better job of capitalizing on situations when they are in front of us. Ninon, Pauli, and Lindsay were dominant in singles. That helped a lot putting some additional scoreboard pressure on Kennesaw State. Our relentless attitude did not fail us as both Mac and Silvi found ways to fight through third sets for the win. Now a quick turnaround before we take on FAMU tomorrow."
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday, hosting Florida A&M in a 1 p.m. matchup at Wallis.
RESULTS
Singles
1. Silvia Martinez (GS) def. Taylor Dean (KSU) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
2. Ninon Martinache (GS) def. Ema Baraniakova (KSU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Lindsay Tulenko (GS) def. Sofia Madrid (KSU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Sophia Unger (KSU) def. Nanaka Kijima (GS) 7-5, 6-2
5. Mackenzie Leopold (GS) def. Ivana Gresova (KSU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
6. Paula Hijos (GS) def. Izabelle Persson (KSU) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
1. Ema Baraniakova/Taylor Dean (KSU) def. Silvia Martinez/Lindsay Tulenko (GS) 6-2
2. Sonja Keranen/Ninon Martinache (GS) def. Izabelle Persson/Sophia Unger (KSU) 6-4
3. Ivana Gresova/Laura Nadaska (KSU) def. Mackenzie Leopold/Sophie Wagemaker (GS) 7-6
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,6,2,4,5,1
Players Mentioned
