Box Score
Box Score

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Barry University women's tennis team sent Division I New Mexico State back to the Land of Enchantment broken. NCAA Division II ranked No. 2 Barry beat New Mexico State, 6-3, Thursday at Buccaneer Tennis Center.

The Buccaneers moved to 12-1, while the Aggies fell to 9-8 after dropping its third match in South Florida.

Barry's ninth-ranked duo of Ana Pain and Sonja Larsen beat Ashvarya Shrivastava and Denise Van Der Ben, 8-0, at No. 1 doubles. Midway through the match, Pain served for a 4-0 lead. Then with the Aggies serving, Pain slammed down a winner at the net that sent the Bucs into the break up 5-0. Larsen and Pain broke the Aggies for a 7-0 advantage. Pain's serve wrapped up the match for the Buccaneers' first point.

Barry's Kimmy Twelker and Linda Fritschken defeated Gabrielle Joyce and Erika Castillo, 8-2, at No. 2 doubles. Leading 3-0, Twelker ran down a long ball to the baseline and hit an overhead return that resulted in an Aggies error. Twelker then served for a 5-0 lead. New Mexico State won two games, but Twelker served the Bucs to a 7-2 lead. Barry won the match on the Aggies' next serve.

Barry's Elisabeth Abanda and Jasi Witherspoon trailed Rimple Kaur and Marie Thiffault 4-3, but the Bucs pair broke the Aggies to take a 5-4 lead. With Witherspoon serving, Abanda pounded the net to push the Bucs ahead, 6-5. Kaur and Thiffault tied the match at 6-6, but Abanda hit a smashing forehand down the line, and Witherspoon lunged for a winner at the net to send Barry into the break up 7-6. But the Aggies won the last three games to pull out a 9-7 win at No. 3 pairs.

Larsen, ranked sixth in the country, dominated Kaur, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 2 singles. Pain beat Van Der Ben, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 3 to give the Buccaneers a 4-1 lead. Thiffault was a 6-0, 6-1 winner over Jay Jay Lubin at No. 6 singles as the Aggies trimmed the gap to 4-2.

Fritschken, ranked 27^th, worked Castillo for a 6-0, 6-2 victory at No. 4 to wrap up the win for Barry. Twelker's 6-2, 6-2 win over Mia Brandt at No. 5 singles made it 7-2.

Abanda drew the No. 1 singles spot for the first time this season, falling to Shrivastava, 2-6, 6-4, 10-6. She rolled to a 6-2 win in the first set over Shrivastava before finding herself in a battle in the second set. Tied 3-3, Shrivastava won the next two games to take a 5-3 lead. Abanda served for the next four points to pull within 5-4. But Shrivastava served for the set to send it to a super tiebreaker. Abanda trailed 5-1 in the tiebreak, but rallied to knot it up at 6-6. Shrivastava rattled off the next four points to win the match.

The Bucs host Eckerd in a Sunshine State Conference match 10 a.m. Saturday.