McKnight Goes Undefeated in Day Two of the Super Challenge
11/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S TENNIS
The day opened with Katarina Milinkovic and McKnight taking to the doubles court to face Indiana's Evgeniya Vertesheva and Katya Zapadalova. The Hoosiers began strong, and built a 5-2 lead as they appeared to be in control of the match. Momentum shifted, however, as Milinkovic and McKnight were able to break serve. Their offensive dominance continued to erase points off the lead and they finally put the match away 8-6.
The singles round pitted the Blue Demons against BIG EAST Conference and frequent foe Notre Dame. McKnight squared off against Kristen Rafael for the first time after previously only facing Kali Krisik from the Irish line-up. The opening set went game-for-game until McKnight was able to break Rafael's serve and won 7-5. With a precision command of her shots, McKnight controlled the pace of the second frame, and held Rafael scoreless for the 6-0 win.
"It felt great to win today against Notre Dame," remarked McKnight shortly after the match, "They have such a talented team and we have a lot of respect for what they have accomplished in the past- its always a good feeling when you can win against strong competition."
In the final match of the day, Milinkovic faced Krisik. While Krisik controlled the offensive tempo of the first set, Milinkovic found her rhythm and took control of the points in the second. Despite her aggressive play, she bowed out 6-2, 6-4.
The WMU Super Challenge concludes tomorrow at 8 a.m. (CST) with one final round of singles against Iowa State.