By: Joseph Hovey
KENNESAW, Ga. — Kennesaw State women's tennis recorded a combined 21 match wins across two tournaments, Oct. 23-25, in Rome and Statesboro, Georgia.
At the Rome Tennis Center Collegiate Invite,
Ema Baraniakova rolled to a 4-0 weekend in singles play – all versus Power Four competition.
Irene Serrano Maestre took three singles matches on her way to winning her flight at the Georgia Southern Fall Shootout in Statesboro.
Each of
Ema Baraniakova's four wins came in straight sets, beginning with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Tennessee's Audrey Aulia. After defeating Ishika Ashar of North Carolina (6-1, 6-2) and Georgia Tech's Taly Licht (6-0, 6-4),
Ema Baraniakova finished the weekend with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Laura Rahnel of Michigan.
Following her 4-0 showing in Rome, the senior from Leopoldov, Slovakia, is now 11-1 on the season in singles.
Adela Zingorova teamed up with
Ema Baraniakova for the tandem's eighth and ninth doubles wins of the season. The Owl duo defeated the Yellow Jackets' Seri Nayuki and Eleni Karantali, 6-4, then topped UCF's Marta Makarova and Jade Psonka.
Zingorova added a singles win of her own, 6-4, 6-4, versus Licht of Georgia Tech.
"It was a really great weekend for Ema and Adela," said KSU assistant coach
Taylor Dean. "Going undefeated in doubles is no easy feat, and Ema's undefeated run in singles was definitely impressive. I'm excited to see how they finish the fall at our last tournament next weekend."
Meanwhile in Statesboro, the Owls stacked up eight singles wins and six more in doubles, with three of the singles victories coming via Serrano Maestre alone.
The sophomore from Illescas, Spain won each of her three matches in straight sets, beginning Friday with a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Stetson's Yuki Mizuguchi. After ousting Furman's Sasha Dimitrov (6-2, 6-4) on Saturday, Serrano Maestre capped the weekend by taking her flight's singles title over Reese Parker of Georgia Southern in a 7-5, 6-4 decision on the latter's home court.
Serrano Maestre is now 9-2 this fall in singles play.
"This was a good tournament for us, with a lot of positive results against strong competition," said KSU director of tennis
Matt Emery. "Congratulations to Irene for winning a title and going undefeated on the weekend in singles and doubles.
Maria Ivankovic also turned in a very strong weekend. It's great to see her back to full strength."
Ivankovic notched two singles wins of her own before falling in her flight's title match on Sunday. To open the tournament, Ivankovic rallied for an 0-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Wofford's Marie Egeland. Ivankovic then reached the title match with a thrilling 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4) defeat of Furman's Lily Doherty.
Lucie Nouzova and
Laura Nadaska rounded out KSU's singles wins in Statesboro. Nouzova defeated Charleston's Saige Severance (6-4, 6-3) and Davidson's Teagan Reilly (6-2, 6-2), while Nadaska beat the Cougars' Harper Santos.
KSU's doubles pairs each recorded wins as well.
Ivankovic and Nadaska notched their ninth and 10th wins of the season with wins over pairs from Furman and Georgia Southern.
Roberts and Serrano Maestre won each of their first three matches as a pair, including defeats of Terrier and Paladin opponents.
Terezia Baraniakova and Nouzova recorded their victory over the Wildcats' Reilly and Avery Combs.
The Owls return to Rome to finish their fall season with the UTR College Tennis Showcase, Oct. 30-Nov. 1.
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