DePaul University Athletics
DePaul University
VCU
Women's Tennis Finishes Weekend in Pink
1/30/2011 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S TENNIS
Jan. 30, 2011
CHAPEL HILL, NC - The #35 DePaul women's tennis team fell to #31 Virginia Commonwealth, 5-2 in the second round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Tournament on Sunday. Playing at North Carolina's Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center the Blue Demons donned pink uniforms in support of DePaul tennis alumni Amy Slavicke Untch (1997-99) who is battling cancer.
The Blue Demons, who traditionally wear blue tops, sported Pink shirts with "Amy" on the back. DePaul normally has a Pink Match to support breast cancer research chose to surprise Amy in her hometown.
"We wore pink with her name on the back to show our support for the real battle she is facing and BEATING," DePaul head coach Mark Ardizzone said.
Energized by Untch in the crowd, the Blue Demons battled VCU for every point on both the doubles and singles court but came up just short.
"It was a great college tennis match today, VCU played well and deserved to win," said Ardizzone.
VCU swept the doubles point, but Katarina Milinkovic gave DePaul its first point of the match with a dominating 6-2, 6-3 win over #68 Josefin Hjertquist in the top position. Milinkovic improves to 3-1 in the No. 1 spot while she is 1-3 this season against ranked opponents.
The Rams went up 3-1 with a win in the third position, before Christiana Raymond finished off Daria Yakavelva in three sets - 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Raymond boasts a team-best 14 singles wins while she is 3-1 in duals this season.
VCU went on to clinch the win with a pair of three-set victories on the fourth and second courts.
"We play these matches early in the year to get you ready for a lot of tough matches on our schedule. The women showed a lot of heart and I was so proud to compete like that with Amy Slavicek in the crowd."
The Blue Demons square off against their third top 35 opponent next week when they travel to #25 Illinois for a dual on Feb. 4. DePaul then opens BIG EAST Conference play by hosting Louisville on Feb. 6 at the Lakeshore Athletic Club.
#31 VCU 5, #35 DePaul 2
Doubles
No. 1: Hjertquist/Ana Bara (VCU) def. McKnight/Salkovic (DePaul) 8-5
No. 2: Alex Bara/Yergina (VCU) def. Milinkovic/Lawson (DePaul) 9-7
No. 3: #3 - Yakavleva/Terteac (VCU) def. Raymond/Gustafson (DePaul) 9-8 (7-6)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
No. 1: Katarina Milinkovic (DePaul) def. #68 Josefin Hjertquist (VCU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2: Ana Bara (VCU) def. Selma Salkovic (DePaul) 6-1, 6-7, 6-3
No. 3: Kateryna Yergina (VCU) def. Gia McKnight (DePaul) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
No. 4: Alex Bara (VCU) def. Kelsey Lawson (DePaul) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 5: Christiana Raymond (DePaul) def. Daria Yakavleva (VCU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
No 6: Olga Terteac (VCU) def. Cali Gustafson (DePaul) 6-2, 6-3
Order of finish: 6, 1, 3, 5, 4*, 2
*Clinched the match
