No. 33 Women's Tennis (15-2) Whips Penn State, Edges ACU

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

No. 33 Women's Tennis Improves to 15-2 With Wins Over Penn State And Abilene Christian
Mustangs have won three in a row

DALLAS (SMU) - The No. 33 SMU Women's Tennis (15-2) team picked up a pair of wins over Penn State and Abeline Christian on Friday, and has now won 11 of its last 12 matches, including three in a row. The Mustangs swept the doubles matches in both matchups and are now 30-9 in doubles contests this spring.

"The most impressive thing about today was the fact that we continued to improve in our doubles," said head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner. "I was really pleased with how we came out in the doubles for both matches and performed at a high level like I know we can. Because of the wind today, the singles matches got very messy, but the girls all fought really hard, never complained and did what they needed to do to win these matches. I am very proud of that."

No. 59 Marta Lesniak, the reigning C-USA Player of the Week, picked up two more wins on the day and the sophomore is now a perfect 15-0 on the spring. All of her wins have come at the No. 1 singles line and she improved to 7-1 against nationally ranked foes with her win against No. 66 Petra Januskova from Penn State.

"This Marta is more focused and determined and it shows in her results and how she is beating every nationally ranked player she comes up against," said Longbotham Meisner.

Senior Pavi Francis grabbed two more match-clinching points on the day and has now sealed the Mustangs' last three victories.

"The Pavi that is playing now is the Pavi that I have known since she was 11 years old. She is confident, motivated and playing some really great tennis. I am proud of how she has really stepped up her game her senior year," said Longbotham Meisner.

The Lewisville native is 11-3 this spring in singles and improved to 6-1 in doubles with her partner freshman Edyta Cieplucha.

Cieplucha was also impressive in singles, winning her matches at the Nos. 3 and 5 positions. The native of Poland saw her record improve to 11-1 on the spring, and she picked her first win at the No. 3 line.

Aleksandra Malyarchikova, coming off a heartbreaking loss at Texas A&M, saw time in the PSU match only and won easily in straight sets. The second-year player is now 13-1 on the season and 3-1 at the No. 3 position.

"Sasha suffered a tough loss against Texas A&M, but just as I predicted it didn't faze her one bit and she rebounded for her next match and played really well," said Longbotham Meisner,

Freshman Katerina Vankova also looked impressive in her straight set win against the Nittany Lions at the No. 2 spot and she is now 3-1 on the spring overall and 2-1 at the No. 2 spot.

"Katerina had a great day and was so excited to play and win her match. She could have very well let what happened to her in her last match against Texas A&M effect her for this match, but she instead she went out there feeling good and was very confident,' said Longbotham Meisner.

The Mustangs return to the courts next Saturday as they host No. 19 Virginia Commonwealth at Noon. They then host C-USA foe Southern Miss and UT-Dallas in a doubleheader on Sunday, with matches slated to begin at 10 a.m.

No. 33 SMU 7, Penn State 0

Doubles
1. Marta Lesniak/Aleksandra Malyarchikova (SMU) def. Sarah Lotto / Amy Simidian (PSU), 8-0
2. Pavi Francis/Edyta Cieplucha (SMU) def. Petra Januskova / Maria Prishlyak (PSU), 8-5
3. Shahzoda Hatamova/Casey Kennedy (SMU) def. Lauren McCarthy/ Michaela Stracar (PSU), 8-3
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles
1. No. 59 Marta Lesniak (SMU) def. No. 66 Petra Januskova (PSU), 4-6, 6-3, 10-5
2. Katerina Vankova (SMU) def. Amy Simidian (PSU), 6-4, 6-3
3. Aleksandra Malyarchikova (SMU) def. Sarah Lotto (PSU), 6-1, 6-3
4. Shahzoda Hatamova (SMU) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU), 6-1, 6-4
5. No. 117 Edyta Cieplucha (SMU) def. Maria Prishlyak (PSU), 6-2, 6-4
6. Pavi Francis(SMU) def. Sarah Henderson (PSU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 3, 2, 1, 4

No. 33 SMU 4, Abeline Christian 3

Doubles
1. Marta Lesniak/Aleksandra Malyarchikova (SMU) def. Jaclyn Walker/Julia Mongin (ACU), 8-3
2. Pavi Francis/Edyta Cieplucha (SMU) def. Callie Carver/Hannah Kelley (ACU), 8-1
3. Shahzoda Hatamova/Casey Kennedy (SMU) def. Lana Pavlin/Lauren White (ACU), 8-0
Order of Finish: 3,2,1

Singles
1. No. 59 Marta Lesniak (SMU) def. Jaclyn Walker (ACU), 6-3, 6-2
2. Julia Mongin (ACU) def. Shahzoda Hatamova (SMU), 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (11-9)
3. No. 117 Edyta Cieplucha (SMU) def. Callie Carver (ACU), 6-2, 6-1
4. Pavi Francis (SMU) def. Lana Pavlin (ACU), 6-0, 6-2
5. Hannah Kelley (ACU) def. Sophie Quist (SMU), 6-4, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (10-7)
6. Natalie Friend (ACU) def. Casey Kennedy (SMU), 6-3, 1-6, 1-0 (11-9)
Order of Finish: 3,1,4,2,6,5