Box Score DAVIE, Fla. -- It was a good day to be a Buccaneer, and Barry University women's tennis team can attest to that.
The No. 2 Buccaneers beat No. 7 Nova Southeastern, 6-3, on the road Thursday in the final regular season match of the season. The win forced a three-way tie for second in the Sunshine State Conference between Barry, Lynn and Nova. The Bucs (15-2, 6-2 SSC) will meet Florida Southern in the opening round of the SSC Tournament next Thursday at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa. NSU fell to 15-3, 6-2.
"It was a good way to end the regular season," Bucs assistant coach
Maria Lopez said. "I think the girls are understanding what it takes to beat some of these teams in the conference. They all went out there and fought pretty hard in each of the positions."
Barry took a 2-1 lead into singles after winning at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles.
Zuza Maciejewska and
Judith Bohnenkamp coasted to an 8-1 win over Petra Jurova and Natassia Rubel at the No. 3 position.
Emma Onila and
Ana Pain won the first seven games on the way to an 8-2 win over Carlee Rizzolo and Irina Constantinide at No. 2. The Sharks won at No. 1 pairs.
NSU tied the match at 2-2 with a win at No. 1 singles, but 21st-ranked Pain defeated Rizzolo, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 4 singles to put the Bucs back in front. Barry freshman
Alisa Rudenko rallied from a 4-2 deficit in the first set to beat Constantinide, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 6 singles. That gave the Bucs a 4-2 lead.
The Sharks won at No. 5 singles to pull within a point in the match, but 11th-ranked
Sonja Larsen was on top of her game in a 6-1, 6-2 victory over 28th-ranked Jurova at No. 3 singles to clinch it. Eighth-ranked Maciejewska dropped the first set to Sabrina Kierberg, 6-4, before not giving up a game in the second set to win, 6-0, and pulling out the super tiebreaker, 12-10, to put the finishing touches on Barry's 15th win of the year.
"We're looking forward to the next matches ahead, and we're trying to build on what we've accomplished," Lopez said. "We have a few days to keep working on a few things to make our team stronger, and I like the direction we're putting ourselves in, moving forward. They're fighting, they're pretty close. Once postseason starts, that will be a key factor for the success of our team."
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