By: Joseph Hovey
MACON, Ga. — Kennesaw State women's tennis concluded its second weekend of fall action with
Laura Nadaska and
Maria Ivankovic taking home a doubles tournament title, while Ema and
Terezia Baraniakova, as well as
Irene Serrano Maestre, each reached singles finals at the Mercer Gridiron Classic.
"I thought this was a very strong showing overall," said KSU director of tennis
Matt Emery. "Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate with us, and we had several players in finals that didn't get to finish with a title, but that was secondary to getting a lot of great matches in."
While inclement weather canceled the singles final,
Ema Baraniakova nevertheless reached it with defeats of Georgia State's Sara Radojevic 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in the round of 16, Emory's Visnja Gusavac 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinal and WCU's Dobreva 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinal.
Ivankovic and Nadaska opened the tournament with a 6-1 defeat of Catalina Pan and Clara Roman from Abraham Baldwin College. The KSU duo then advanced to the doubles final with a 6-3 win over Middle Georgia State's Ainhoa Meili and Mayra Gisone.
After overcoming their teammates
Irene Serrano Maestre and
Terezia Baraniakova in the semifinal, Ivankovic and Nadaska secured their top finish by defeating Mia Miranda and Mariya Dobreva of Western Carolina in the final.
"Congrats to Laura and Maria for continuing to play great doubles and getting the doubles title," Emery said. "Ema, Terezia and Irene all going undefeated in singles for the weekend was also very impressive."
Serrano Maestre and
Terezia Baraniakova also took two doubles wins in the bracket's opening stages, defeating pairs from North Georgia and Florida Southern. The KSU pair would have met in the Flight A2 singles final if not for a weather cancelation.
Terezia Baraniakova's path to the final included wins over Angelina Mihajlovic of Georgia Southern (6-4, 6-4), Mercer's Tea Zivic (6-2, 1-6, 6-4) and Florida Southern's Ronja Scheuermann (6-4, 6-3).
Serrano Maestre advanced from the opening round with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3) win over North Georgia's Sofia Giraldo. Two Emory players stood between Serrano Maestre and the final. The sophomore Owl defeated both, 6-3, 6-2, and 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
Jenelle Roberts rounded out the Owls' weekend wins with a 6-1, 6-1 defeat of Emory's Audrey Pogue in the singles round of 16.
The Owls now turn their attention to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Regional Championships in Coral Gables, Florida, Oct. 7-11.
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