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South Dakota St.
Bucknell Women's Tennis Ends Losing Streak with 6-1 over South Dakota State
3/14/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 14, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. – Bucknell women's tennis turned around its recent struggles to secure a 6-1 victory over South Dakota State in Orlando, Fla., on Monday. The Bison (2-6) gave up just one point to the Jackrabbits as they won seven of nine matches in the first of their Spring Break play.
Bucknell clinched the doubles point quickly. Daria Tuzhikova (Minsk, Belarus/Gymnasium No. 7) and Dumitrita Iepuras (Chisinau, Moldova/Germantown Friends School) won at No. 2, while Dara Dwojewski (Chester, N.J./West Morris Mendham) and Elena Vidrascu (Rochester, N.Y./Sutherland) teamed up for the win at the third position. Both matches were decided by a score of 8-2.
Courtney Casey (Rockville, Md./Georgetown Visitation) and Lauren Lucido (Woodstock, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) nearly made it a sweep, but their comeback effort fell just short. After trailing 6-3 to Jenny Blackburne and Brooke Henry at No. 1 doubles, the Bison duo evened the match at 7 all. In the end, it was the Jackrabbits who closed it out, however, 8-7.
Four of the six singles matches went very smoothly for the Orange and Blue. Lucido and Iepuras earned the first two solo points without allowing more than three games to their opponent in their respective matches. Lauren Rottkamp (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) and Casey also collected straight-sets wins.
With her singles win, Lucido reaches 150 combine victories. That makes her just the third player in program history to reach the milestone. With nearly four years of play under her belt, Lucido has a career mark of 150-67. Rottkamp now has 50 combined wins in her four years at Bucknell. That moves her into the program's top 30 with a career record of 50-52.
Closing out the day was a win from Dwojewski, but the senior had to work hard for her point. Dwojewski lost the opening set at No. 6 singles to Bethany Goeden, 6-2. The Bison player then cruised to a 6-1 victory in the second to force a super tiebreaker. That also went in Dwojewski's favor, 10-7.
A second three-set match was also played at the third position. Vidrascu had a 6-2 lead before dropping the second set by a score of 6-3 to the Jackrabbits' Bryna Nasenbeny. Nasenbeny took South Dakota State's only point with a 10-6 win in the super tiebreak.
Bucknell returns to the courts tomorrow for an 8 a.m. match against Marist. Play will be at Lake Cane in Orlando.
Bucknell 6, South Dakota State 1
Doubles
1. Jenny Blackburne/Brooke Henry (SDS) def. Lauren Lucido/Courtney Casey (BU), 8-7
2. Daria Tuzhikova/Dumitrita Iepuras (BU) def. Bryna Nasenbeny/Bethany Goeden (SDS), 8-2
3. Dara Dwojewski/Elena Vidrascu (BU) def. Natalia Medina/Megan McDougall (SDS), 8-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1. Lauren Lucido (BU) def. Jenny Blackburne (SDS), 6-2, 6-1
2. Dumitrita Iepuras (BU) def. Katie Elifson (SDS), 6-1, 6-1
3. Bryna Nasenbeny (SDS) def. Elena Vidrascu (BU), 6-2, 3-6, (10-6)
4. Lauren Rottkamp (BU) def. Natalia Medina (SDS), 6-4, 6-3
5. Courtney Casey (BU) def. Megan McDougall (SDS), 6-1, 6-1
6. Dara Dwojewski (BU) def. Bethany Goeden (SDS) 2-6, 6-1, (10-7)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
