Bucknell University
Eastern Championships
Bucknell Women's Tennis Sends Two to Quarterfinals in Day One of Eastern Championships
9/26/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Sept. 26, 2009
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Tania Varela (Quito, Ecuador/Alliance Academy) and Dumitrita Iepuras (Chisinau, Moldova/Germantown Friends Academy) each advanced to the quarterfinals of the Eastern Championships on Friday in West Point, N.Y. The duo contributed to seven total wins for the Bucknell women's tennis team, which sent all four of its singles players through to at least the second round.
Varela, who is seeded seventh in No. 1 singles at the tournament, started her day by defeating UConn's Kelley LoRusso in straight sets. The opening set proved to be as smooth as can be, ending 6-0. The second was much more competitive, but Varela pulled out the 7-5 win to advance to the second round where she met Emily Lombardi of Bowdoin.
The Bison senior was pushed in her second-round match, needing a 10-point tiebreak to continue her run. Varela won the first 6-2, but dropped the second 3-6. She then regained her form in the tiebreaker for a 1-3 run.
Iepuras had a more straightforward route to the quarterfinals of No. 3 singles. The sophomore led off with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Shannon Benic of Pittsburgh before going on to take out fourth-seeded Anne Hang of Army 6-4, 6-1 in the second round.
Varela will meet Fairleigh Dickinson's Elmine Botes in the quarters on Saturday, while Iepuras will face the eighth-seeded Kaitlyn Carpenter from UMass.
Lauren Lucido (Woodstock, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) and Lauren Rottkamp (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) also won their opening singles matches. Lucido improved her fall record to 7-0 in singles action after knocking out Cornell's Sinzinana Chis, 6-0, 6-3 at the No. 2 position.
Lucido will face Jillian Santos of Binghamton in the second round.
Rottkamp also defeated her Pittsburgh opponent, Minh Evans, in straight sets, 7-6 (7), 6-2, to advance to the second round of No. 4 singles. Duquesne's Samantha Noble got the better of the junior in the next match, however, as Rottkamp fell 6-3, 6-1.
In doubles play, Courtney Casey (Rockville, Md./Georgetown Visitation) and Kirstyn Sotak (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Hathaway Brown) advanced to the second round in No. 2 doubles after defeating their opponents from Marist with an 8-2 score. The Orange and Blue duo was then knocked out themselves in their next match, falling 8-3 to St. John's.
The Bison continue play at Army Saturday with final matches concluding on Sunday.
BUCKNELL RESULTS
Doubles
First Round
1: Jennie Ciotti/Daria Tuzhikova - bye
2: Courtney Casey/Kirstyn Sotak (B) def. Joanna Macaluso/Juliana Vilas-Boas (Marist), 8-2
Second Round
1: Ksenia Mikhaylova/Joanna Zwirbulis (St. John's) def. Ciotti/ Tuzhikova (B), 8-5
2: No. 6 Alyssa Liantonia/Jennifer Yonkus (St. John's) def. Casey/Sotak (B), 8-3
Singles
First Round
1: No. 7 Tania Varela (B) def. Kelley Lo Russo (UConn), 6-0, 7-5
2: Lauren Lucido (B) def. Sinzinana Chis (Cornell), 6-0, 6-3
3: Dumitrita Iepuras (B) def. Shannon Benic (Pitt), 6-3, 6-2
4: Lauren Rottkamp (B) def. Minh Evans (Pitt), 7-6 (7), 6-2
Second Round
1: Varela (B) def. Emily Lombardi (Bowdoin), 6-2, 3-6, 10-3
3: Iepuras (B) def. No. 4 Anne Hang (Army), 6-4, 6-1
4: No. 6 Samantha Noble (Duquesne) def. Rottkamp (B), 6-3, 6-1
