Wake Forest University
ITA All-American Qualifying
Malvehy Upsets No. 5 Seed At ITAs
10/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 19, 2007
Chapel Hill, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's tennis team posted four wins in the main draw of the ITA Regionals at the University of North Carolina on Friday.
Freshman Emilee Malvehy had an ACC upset over fifth-seeded Diana Petrovic of NC State on Friday afternoon. Malvehy was chased by the Wolfpack sophomore through the first set, but pulled out a 7-5 win. Petrovic took a 7-6 (6-4) win in a second set tiebreaker to knot the match but Malvehy came back to smoke the competition in the final set, winning 6-0.
"That was huge for her," WFU Head Coach Chad Skorupka said. "It's was a tough match and she really played well."
Wake sophomore Sasha Kulikova had a straight set win over Furman's Lauren Osborne to kick off Wake's play in the main draw. Osborne looked to make a comeback in the second set, going up 2-0 to start, but Kulikova fired back to take the final set 6-2.
Freshman Katarina Reveche and senior Alex Hirsch also had first round wins for the Deacons.
Junior Christian Tara played her first singles match since last fall, following her recovery from a lingering injury. Tara started strong with 6-2 opening set win over Tennessee's Ghizella Schutte, but dropped a narrow tiebreaker in the second set. In the final set, Tara stayed close through the first five games, but Schutte stretched out a 3-2 lead and took the final set 6-2.
It was a black and gold battle on Court 3 as Wake's Sierra Poske faced Vanderbilt's ninth-seed Taka Bertrand.
After falling 6-1 in the first set, Poske jumped out to an early lead in the second, holding Bertrand at 3-2. Bertrand knotted the match in the next game, and went on to take the final set 6-4.
The Demon Deacons will continue action on Saturday and Sunday in Chapel Hill.
Friday Results
Main Draw
Sasha Kulikova d. Lauren Osborne (Furman) 6-2, 6-2
Katarine Reveche d. Paige Kensrue (Elon) 6-2, 6-2
Emilee Malvehy d. Daria Petrovic (NC State) 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-0
Alex Hirsch d. Alejandra Guerra (UNCG) TBA
Taka Bertrand (Vanderbilt) d. Sierra Poske 6-1, 6-4
Ghizella Schutte (Tennessee) d. Christian Tara 2-6, 7-6, 6-2
Qualifying Singles
Jenna Loeb d. Natalia Baez (Louisville) 3-6, 7-5 (ret)
Jessica Preeg (Furman) d. Jenna Loeb 6-4, 6-0
Players Mentioned
