Wake Forest University
Winthrop
Deacons Defeat Winthrop 6-1 in Season Opener
1/23/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 23, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's tennis team got its season off to a strong start as the No. 52 Demon Deacons took down No. 65 Winthrop 6-1 in their season opener Sunday at the Indoor Tennis Center, giving head coach Jeff Wyshner a victory in his first dual match at the helm of the Deacons.
The Deacons swept the doubles matches and won the first five singles matches to easily cruise to the win.
"We knew we had to play well today, and that's exactly what we did," said Wyshner. "If we hadn't shown up, it would not have been a successful day, but we showed up and played very good tennis for January."
At No. 3 doubles, junior Martina Pavelec and freshman Brigita Bercyte, playing in her first collegiate match, shutout Winthrop's Yasmine Alkema and Sara Abutovic 8-0.
"I was excited for that result," said Wyshner. "We've been working on a couple of things that Bercyte executed really well. She takes to it, she has great energy and she closes on the net very well. She did a great job and didn't really seem to show any signs of nerves."
The 14th-ranked team of Kayla Duncan and Kathryn Talbert clinched the doubles point for the Deacons at the top position with an 8-5 victory over No. 87 Sandra Herrera and Giovanna Portioli.
Ryann Cutillo and Emilee Malvehy completed the Wake Forest doubles sweep with a hard-fought 8-7 (2) win over Andressa Garcia and Elizaveta Zaytseva at No. 2.
"We were ready to go on all three doubles matches," said Wyshner. "We talk about the intensity level that's necessary for good doubles, and we stepped out there and had pretty quick starts on all three courts.
At No. 1 singles, 62nd-ranked Pavelec gave the Deacs a 2-0 lead when she moved past Alkema 6-1, 6-3. Duncan extended the Wake Forest lead at the No. 3 position, taking down Herrera 6-2, 6-2. Talbert clinched for the Demon Deacons at the No. 2 slot, defeating Zaytseva 6-4, 6-1.
Malvehy put Wake Forest ahead 5-0 with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 over Portioli. Anna Mydlowska extended the advantage to 6-0 by beating Abutovic 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6. Garcia picked up the lone victory for Winthrop at No. 5 singles, outlasting Cutillo 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (9).
"I thought that Emilee's opponent really pushed her a lot, and she played solid point after solid point," said Wyshner. "I thought hers was probably the toughest match that we pulled through to a win. They were very good on the bottom half of their lineup, and if you look at the scores of the matches that they've played this year, you know that. Emilee was really rock-solid, and then had the firepower when she created the opening for herself. It was a lot of fun to watch that high quality of play.
The Deacons will host two matches next weekend as they welcome Virginia for a non-conference match on Saturday, Jan. 28 and East Tennessee State on Jan. 29. Both matches will begin at noon at the Indoor Tennis Center.
"It was a great fan turnout," said Wyshner. "We had a number of people here, with the promotion where children 14 and under got a tennis ball and everybody got pizza between the doubles and singles. We'll do that again next weekend, so hopefully we can keep getting people coming out and sending them home happy like we did today."
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#52 Wake Forest 6, #65 Winthrop 1
Singles
1. #62 Martina Pavelec (WF) def. ALKEMA, Yasmine (WU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Kathryn Talbert (WF) def. ZAYTSEVA, Elizaveta (WU) 6-4, 6-1
3. Kayla Duncan (WF) def. HERRERA, Sandra (WU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Emilee Malvehy (WF) def. PORTIOLI, Giovanna (WU) 6-2, 6-3
5. GARCIA, Andressa (WU) def. Ryann Cutillo (WF) 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (11-9)
6. Anna Mydlowska (WF) def. ABUTOVIC, Sara (WU) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles
1. #14 Kayla Duncan/Kathryn Talbert (WF) def. #87 HERRERA, Sandra/PORTIOLI, Giovanna (WU) 8-5
2. Emilee Malvehy/Ryann Cutillo (WF) def. GARCIA, Andressa/ZAYTSEVA, Elizaveta (WU) 8-7 (7-2)
3. Martina Pavelec/Brigita Bercyte (WF) def. ALKEMA, Yasmine/ABUTOVIC, Sara (WU) 8-0
Match Notes:
Winthrop 2-2; National ranking #65
Wake Forest 1-0; National ranking #52
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (1,3,2,4,6,5)
Players Mentioned
