By: Joseph Hovey
KENNESAW, Ga. — Kennesaw State women's tennis is back in action in its second tournament of the fall season Oct. 1-3, at the Mercer Gridiron Classic.
Events begin Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the Randy Stephens Tennis Center in Macon, Georgia, with two rounds of doubles.
The tournament continues Oct. 2 with two rounds of singles and a round of doubles. Saturday's final day of action includes a round of both singles and doubles.
The Owls began their fall season Sept. 18-20 hosting Georgia Mid-Major Mayhem at Betty Siegel Courts.
Each of the multi-team event's three days pitted the Owls against an in-state foe in a dual-format match. As a team, KSU went 3-0, defeating Mercer (7-2), Georgia Southern (6-2), and Georgia State (6-1).
The Owls finished the weekend 7-3 in doubles play with undefeated performances on both courts one and three.
Ema Baraniakova and
Adela Zingorova went 3-0 (6-2, 6-2, 6-0) on court one; meanwhile,
Maria Ivankovic and
Laura Nadaska matched that winning output at 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.
A freshman from Rybi, Czechia, the weekend's matches were Zingorova's first in an Owl uniform.
The KSU women combined for a 16-5 record in singles play with undefeated efforts from Ema and
Terezia Baraniakova, Nadaska,
Irene Serrano Maestre and
Jenelle Roberts.
Ema Baraniakova defeated opponents from Georgia Southern and Georgia State 6-1, 6-1 and 6-2, 6-4, respectively. The senior's line-one dominance also included a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (2-0) win versus Mercer.
Terezia Baraniakova tallied three straight-set wins, with a string of 6-2 wins versus both Mercer and Georgia Southern, along with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Georgia State.
Nadaska needed only two sets to take each of her matches. The senior from Jaslovske Bohunice, Slovakia topped opponents from Mercer 6-3, 7-5; Georgia Southern 6-1, 6-0 and Georgia State 6-2, 6-0.
Serrano Maestre started her sophomore campaign strong with a pair of hard-fought wins against Mercer and Georgia State. After taking set one 7-6 (7-0) versus Mercer, Serrano Maestre fell 3-6 in set two. In a 10-point tiebreak for the match, Serrano Maestre rallied from an early 5-9 deficit to take the third set 11-9. Serrano Maestre finished the weekend with wins of 6-1, 6-2 and 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
Roberts, an offseason addition via Western Carolina, earned her first wins as an Owl with results of 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 against Mercer, and 7-5, 6-3 over Georgia Southern.
Freshman
Lucie Nouzova's first win at KSU came Sunday in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of her Georgia State foe.
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