Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
St. Joseph's Invitational
Women's Tennis Sends Two to Finals at Saint Joseph's Invitational
9/12/2015 8:16:00 PM | Women's Tennis
MERION STATION, Pa. – The Bucknell women's tennis team is guaranteed to have a top-flight champion at the Saint Joseph's Invitational. Senior Maria Cioffi and sophomore Lisa Jouravleva were both victorious in thrilling three-set matches in the semifinals of Flight 1, and will meet each other in the finals on Sunday.
Bucknell also has a chance to win a title in Flight 4, where freshman Danielle Gannon won her quarterfinals match in straight sets over Maddie Graziani from Saint Joseph's. Graziani was an All-PSAC performer for Bloomsburg before transferring after her freshman season. Gannon will play Delaware freshman Sarah Hall in the semifinals.
Cioffi fought back to win both of her matches as singles play began on Saturday. She dropped the first set 6-3 in her quarterfinal match against Claire Minnoe (Saint Joseph's), but stayed alive with a 7-6 win in the second set and a 10-7 edge in the third. She again dropped the first set 6-3 in her semifinal match with Delaware's Arielle Shuren, but prevailed with 6-3 and 10-5 scores in the final two sets.
Jouravleva opened with a straight-sets victory over Delaware's top player from last season, Danea Jonjic, in the quarterfinals. She fell behind with a 7-5 loss in the first set to Norfolk State's Dajana Cvjetkovic in the semifinals, before responding with 7-6 and 11-9 wins in the final two sets. Jouravlevla moved to 4-1 in singles on the season.
“Those were huge singles wins for Maria and Lisa today,” said Rebecca Helt, who is in her 18th season as the head coach at Bucknell. “I have never seen this level of play from our team at this point in the season.”
Gannon's semifinal match is slated to start at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, while Cioffi and Jouravleva are scheduled to square off at 10:30 a.m.
Players Mentioned
