Wake Forest University
Elon
Wake Forest Drops Close 4-3 Decision against Elon
1/26/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 26, 2013
By Currie McFayden, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@SIDeacons)
GREENSBORO, N.C. - After defeating Richmond 7-0 in a morning showdown, the Wake Forest women's tennis team suffered a 4-3 setback against Elon at the Piedmont Indoor Tennis Center in Greensboro on Saturday evening.
The Deacs now sit at 1-1 on the season following Saturday's action, while Elon improves to 2-1.
Wake clinched the doubles point behind strong performances from Xue Zhang and Karen Forman (No. 2) and Andrea Retolaza and Brigita Bercyte (No. 3). Zhang and Forman earned an 8-5 win over Viviana Stavreva and Barbora Lazarova first, followed by Retolaza and Bercyte's 8-6 triumph against Bryn Khoury and Taylor Casey that sealed the point for the Deacs.
In singles, Kathryn Talbert and Kasey Gardiner picked up wins at the top two positions, but the Phoenix swept the four remaining matches to earn the overall victory.
Talbert, who cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 win earlier in the day against Richmond's Melissa Kandinata, did not face much trouble against Elon's Jordan Johnston. The Mooresville, N.C., native dropped just five games en route to a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
Gardiner was pushed much harder in her opening set than Talbert, battling to a 7-5 opening-set win over Frida Jansaker. With the first set in hand, the freshman eased to a 7-5, 6-4 win, her second of the day after also defeating Richmond's Anna Abadias.
Three of the four remaining matches went to three sets, including Bercyte pushing Elon's Briana Berne (No. 119 in the nation) to the brink before falling 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3).
"It was just one of those epic collegiate tennis matches where both teams were on the verge of victory several times. I thought we played some of the gutsiest tennis you could possibly play. I was thrilled to see our competitive spirit," coach Jeff Wyshner noted of his team's gritty performance.
Wake Forest will return to action next Sunday morning, Feb. 3, at 10:00 a.m. as the squad travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia State.
Players Mentioned
