Redecsi and Salkovic Advance with Opening Round Victory
5/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S TENNIS
ATHENS, Ga. - DePaul's Anna Redecsi and Selma Salkovic continued to rewrite the Blue Demon women's tennis history book as the pair picked up a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 win over the College of Charleston pair of Holly Dowse and Emma Hayman in the Opening Round of the NCAA Doubles Championship at Georgia's Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Ranked No. 18 in the Campbell's/ITA Collegiate rankings, Redecsi and Salkovic took to the courts in nearly 90-degree temperatures on Thursday and were playing their 13th ranked tandem of the season in No. 37 Dowse and Hayman.
"I am extremely proud of Anna and Selma," head coach Mark Ardizzone said following the match. "They overcame the weather, playing outdoors and the excitement of playing at the NCAA Championship."
The Blue Demon pair took a set to warm-up before hitting their stride and winning the last two sets to advance to the Round of 16 on Friday.
In the first set, DePaul's dynamic duo fell behind 6-5 before Salkovic dominated the game with her powerful serve and the Blue Demons tied the set at six apiece to send it to a tiebreak. Dowse and Hayman would eventually win the tiebreaker and take the early lead.
"We really did a good job of overcoming a very nervous start," Ardizzone added. "The key to the match was when we started to believe that we could play our game. Anna and Selma started to trust their shots and themselves a little more and it showed in the scores."
Salkovic and Redecsi played the next two sets to near perfection. The tandem complemented each other with strong play at the net and powerful serves.
The Blue Demons found themselves down 4-3, but won the last three games in the second set convincingly. Salkovic served DePaul to a four-all tie before DePaul broke the C of C serve and took the lead for good.
Redecsi served out the set as the Blue Demons tied the match at one all.
DePaul dominated the final set, 6-2 to claim the pair's 30th victory of the season and eighth over a nationally ranked opponent.
"One of the big keys was to play our game and not be distracted by the other team," Ardizzone said. "We started to hit the ball where we wanted it to go rather than hit it where they (College of Charleston) wanted it to go. Once that started to happen, we switched the momentum of the match and pulled out the final two sets."
The Blue Demon tandem will face top-seeded Natalie Pluskota and Caitlin Whoriskey from Tennessee on Friday.
"You could not ask for more than what we will see tomorrow," Ardizzone added. "We are playing the best team in the country in the best tennis stadium in the country."
"We have played Pluskota and Whoriskey before so we just need to go for it. They play a different style and will have to match their aggression and go for our shots from the first serve."
Pluskota and Whoriskey stopped Redecsi and Salkovic's Indoor Championship run in November when the Volunteer pair came-from-behind to win the series' only meeting in the quarterfinals of the ITA Indoor Championship.
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