Youngstown State, Wright State Advance to #HLTennis Women's Semis

Youngstown State-Oakland 1st Round Box Score | Milwaukee-Wright State 1st Round Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Youngstown State and Wright State both took 4-1 victories in the first round of the Horizon League Women’s Tennis Championship at the Varsity Tennis Center at the University of Michigan. The Penguins and Raiders eliminated Oakland and Milwaukee, respectively.

Youngstown State will face No. 2 UIC, while Wright State will meet No. 1 Cleveland State. Both matches will start at 11 a.m. ET and be broadcast on ESPN.

The third-seeded Penguins took singles wins at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 – all in straight sets – to back up the doubles point it earned with victories at Nos. 2 and 3.

Sofia Macias and 2016 Horizon League Player of the Year Dominika Lackova got the Penguins rolling in the early-morning match, earning a 6-2 victory at No. 2 doubles. Tamara Blum and Elizabeth Guy evened the doubles action with a 6-3 win for Oakland, but Ana Stroe and Julianna Heino emerged with a 6-4 clinching victory at No. 3.

In singles, Macias put the Penguins up two points with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 4. Nehel Sahni collected a 7-5, 6-1 victory to push YSU to the brink of the clinching point, but Blum came through with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Lackova at No. 1 to keep the Golden Grizzlies alive.

However, Stroe clinched the match for the Penguins shortly thereafter, sweeping to a 6-4, 6-1 win.

The second women’s match of the afternoon belied its final score, as Linsey Verstrepen’s clutch 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles prevented what appeared to be building to another Milwaukee comeback.

After Wright State breezed to the doubles point with a 6-1 triumph at No. 3 and 6-4 at No. 2, the Raiders promptly went ahead 2-0 behind Karoline Haller’s straight set, 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 1.

Aby Madrigal put the Raiders on the verge of a match win with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 6, but Dana Shannon kicked off the Milwaukee rally, 6-1, 7-5, at No. 5.
Haley Marshall and Laurie Clark each took the second sets of their match to push them into the third set, where Alysa Straub was also playing in the third set at No. 4.

However, Verstrepen used two early breaks to build a 5-1 lead in the third set before hanging on to knock off Marshall and send the Raiders into the semifinals.