Arkansas women net big win over Golden Hurricane
Women's Tennis
Jimmy Carter
Issue date: 1/26/09 Section: Sports
No. 14 Arkansas (2-0) capped its first weekend of dual-match play with a resounding 6-1 victory over No. 34 Tulsa (3-1).
Senior star Aurelija Miseviciute inched to within two victories of tying the Arkansas all-time singles victories record as the Hogs dismantled the Golden Hurricane squad.
"We always have some very tough matches with Tulsa traditionally," said Arkansas coach Michael Hegarty. "To win 6-1, and almost 7-0, is definitely a big step forward for us."
Miseviciute showed why she is the No. 2 ranked singles player in the country, winning her match against Alexandra Kichoutkin in short order 6-0, 6-2.
"It's amazing to see the level of consistency that she [Miseviciute] brings at such an elite level," Hegarty said. "The girl she played today is a fantastic player and struggled to win a few games."
While she is proud of her accomplishments Miseviciute said they only motivate her more.
"Every time I go and play, I just think about getting one more win," Miseviciute said. "It's good to know but it's not the only thing I think about when I go and play the match."
The Razorbacks started the afternoon winning the doubles point by a 2-1 margin. Miseviciute teamed with fellow senior Ela Kaluder to earn an 8-3 victory. Freshmen Emily Carbone and Kate Lukomskaya won their match 8-5 to secure the point.
"They've [the freshmen] been clutch since the day classes started in August," Hegarty said. "They're getting better at a quick rate, and you know we're hopeful that by the time we get to SEC play that they're clutch in SEC matches as well."
The Hogs only doubles loss was an upset win for the Hurricane. Tulsa's Thalia Diaz-Barriga and Ewa Szatkowska knocked off the No. 8-ranked Arkansas duo of Nanar Airapetian and Anouk Tigu 9-8, winning the tiebreaker 7-5.
Arkansas controlled the singles session beginning with Miseviciute's convincing win. Carbone won her match 6-3, 6-2 and the Hogs clinched the victory when Tigu, the No. 66 player in the country, defeated Diaz-Barriga 6-2, 6-3.
"I think I did a good job of starting good with focus and played my match well," Tigu said.
Kaluder prevailed over Jie Zeng 7-5, 6-1, while Airapetian won her match 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 clinching the win 10-8 as both coaches agreed on a super-tiebreaker with the overall outcome decided.
Lukomskaya fell 10-7 in her super-tiebreaker to Anastasia Erofeeva, but the Razorbacks did everything else right.
"Couldn't have been a whole lot better," Hegarty said. "7-0 and a 6-1, and really the 6-1 was very close to a 7-0. But you know right now we're just working hard and trying to get a whole lot better, because we know how tough the SEC is and we've got to work hard to get ready for that."
Senior star Aurelija Miseviciute inched to within two victories of tying the Arkansas all-time singles victories record as the Hogs dismantled the Golden Hurricane squad.
"We always have some very tough matches with Tulsa traditionally," said Arkansas coach Michael Hegarty. "To win 6-1, and almost 7-0, is definitely a big step forward for us."
Miseviciute showed why she is the No. 2 ranked singles player in the country, winning her match against Alexandra Kichoutkin in short order 6-0, 6-2.
"It's amazing to see the level of consistency that she [Miseviciute] brings at such an elite level," Hegarty said. "The girl she played today is a fantastic player and struggled to win a few games."
While she is proud of her accomplishments Miseviciute said they only motivate her more.
"Every time I go and play, I just think about getting one more win," Miseviciute said. "It's good to know but it's not the only thing I think about when I go and play the match."
The Razorbacks started the afternoon winning the doubles point by a 2-1 margin. Miseviciute teamed with fellow senior Ela Kaluder to earn an 8-3 victory. Freshmen Emily Carbone and Kate Lukomskaya won their match 8-5 to secure the point.
"They've [the freshmen] been clutch since the day classes started in August," Hegarty said. "They're getting better at a quick rate, and you know we're hopeful that by the time we get to SEC play that they're clutch in SEC matches as well."
The Hogs only doubles loss was an upset win for the Hurricane. Tulsa's Thalia Diaz-Barriga and Ewa Szatkowska knocked off the No. 8-ranked Arkansas duo of Nanar Airapetian and Anouk Tigu 9-8, winning the tiebreaker 7-5.
Arkansas controlled the singles session beginning with Miseviciute's convincing win. Carbone won her match 6-3, 6-2 and the Hogs clinched the victory when Tigu, the No. 66 player in the country, defeated Diaz-Barriga 6-2, 6-3.
"I think I did a good job of starting good with focus and played my match well," Tigu said.
Kaluder prevailed over Jie Zeng 7-5, 6-1, while Airapetian won her match 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 clinching the win 10-8 as both coaches agreed on a super-tiebreaker with the overall outcome decided.
Lukomskaya fell 10-7 in her super-tiebreaker to Anastasia Erofeeva, but the Razorbacks did everything else right.
"Couldn't have been a whole lot better," Hegarty said. "7-0 and a 6-1, and really the 6-1 was very close to a 7-0. But you know right now we're just working hard and trying to get a whole lot better, because we know how tough the SEC is and we've got to work hard to get ready for that."
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