Story Links
March 15, 2003
TALLAHASSEE, FLA – The No. 38 Virginia women’s tennis team opened their 2003 ACC season with a 4-3 win over No. 60 Florida State in Tallahassee. The win improves the Cavaliers’ record to 9-4 overall, 1-0 in the conference.
Virginia opened the match by taking the doubles point. The ranked Cavalier duos of No. 40 Henriette Williams (Raleigh, N.C.) and Jennifer Tuchband (Millburn, N.J.) and No. 38 Kristen James (Clifton, Va.) and Lori Stern (Ojai, Calif.) won at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles respectively to capture the point.
In singles, the Cavaliers jumped out to a 3-0 lead as Tuchband won at No. 2 singles and James won at No. 4. However, the Seminoles would rally to tie the match at 3-3 with wins at the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 6 positions. In the last match remaining on the courts, Marta Bechliwanis (Etobicoke, Va.) clinched the Cavalier win with her victory at No. 5 singles.
“Every team in the country can look at how important winning 4-3 matches are to their season,” stated Virginia head coach Phil Rogers. “We knew this was going to be one of those matches and Marta had her chance in singles to get us the win, and she did.”
Virginia returns home Wednesday as they host Virginia Tech at the Snyder Tennis Center at 1:30 p.m.
No. 38 Virginia 4, No. 60 Florida State 3
Doubles:No. 1 No. 40 Williams/Tuchband (UVA) d. Tantee/Gheorghe (FSU) 8-5No. 2 No. 38 K. James/Stern (UVA) d. Natalie Tirapelli/Moldovan (FSU) 8-3No. 3 Cordell/Denny (FSU) d. Kyle Montgomery/Lauren Bruch (UVA) 8-1
Singles:No. 1 No. 81 Mihaela Moldovan (FSU) d. Henriette Williams (UVA) 7-5, 6-4No. 2 Jennifer Tuchband (UVA) d. Daniela Gheorghe (FSU) 6-1, 6-1No. 3 Christina Denny (FSU) d. Lori Stern (UVA) 6-4, 7-5No. 4 Kristen James (UVA) d. Amber Tantee (FSU) 6-4, 6-2No. 5 Marta Bechliwanis (UVA) d. Brooke Cordell (FSU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4No. 6 Alina Mihailescu (FSU) d. Dora Bechliwanis (UVA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2