DePaul University
Arkansas
Women's Tennis Takes Down No. 31 Arkansas
2/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S TENNIS
Feb. 25, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 71 DePaul women's tennis used strong singles play to defeat its third ranked opponent of the season -- No. 31 Arkansas, 4-3 on Saturday at Ohio State's Varsity Tennis Center.
"I am just extremely proud of how the girls battled back," Blue Demon head coach Mark Ardizzone said with a huge smile on his face.
"To beat an SEC program that is as highly ranked as Arkansas is really a great, great thing for our program and hopefully it gets us back on track. We have had three unbelievable matches in a row and hopefully that will keep making us better."
After dropping the doubles point, the Blue Demons went to work in singles - with five of the six singles matches needing a third set to decide the winner.
Gia McKnight and Rebeca Mitrea gave DePaul a 2-1 lead with their respective singles wins. McKnight was the first off the courts when she bounced back from a set-down to defeat Claudine Paulson 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. Mitrea was the second off the courts and was the only competitor to win in straight sets. Mitrea topped Catherine Parenteau 7-6, 7-5 in the No. 6 spot.
The Razorbacks evened the score at two with a win on the fourth court.
No. 105 Jasmin Kling put the Blue Demons up one when she topped Emily Carbone 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the top singles spot. Kling has won her last two matches and is 7-2 in the No. 1 singles position.
Arkansas again knotted the score, this time at three all, with its win on the fifth court.
With the match on the line, all attention turned to the second court where Patricia Fargas and Stephanie Roy were trading points.
Fargas won the first set, 6-2, but Roy countered in the second set. Determined to win her 11th straight match, the Blue Demon freshman refocused in the final stanza and won - 6-3, which clinched DePaul's victory.
"We are going to keep on working on our doubles and keep getting better. Again I am just extremely proud of the effort to win four singles matches against a great SEC team."
"It was just a great match," Ardizzone said in closing.
The Blue Demons hit the road next weekend for a BIG EAST Conference match against Rutgers in Milwaukee on Mar. 3 before heading to Iowa for a dual on Sunday.
No. 71 DePaul 4, No. 31 Arkansas 3
Doubles:
1. Jasmin Kling/Gia McKnight (DPU) def. Claudine Paulson/Laurie Gingras (ARK) 8-0
2. Stephanie Roy/Emily Carbone (ARK) def. Patricia Fargas/Carolin Neumann (DPU) 8-3
3. Catherine Parenteau/Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) def. Cali Gustafson/Rebeca Mitrea (DEP) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles:
1. #105 Jasmin Kling (DPU) def. Emily Carbone (ARK) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
2. Patricia Fargas (DPU) def. Stephanie Roy (ARK) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
3. Gia McKnight (DPU) def. Claudine Paulson (ARK) 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Kate Lukomskaya (ARK) def. Kelsey Lawson (DPU) 6-2, 6-7, 6-2
5. Laurie Gingras (ARK) def. Carolin Neumann (DPU) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
6. Rebeca Mitrea (DPU) def. Catherine Parenteau (ARK) 7-6, 7-5
Order of Finish: 3, 6, 4, 1, 5, 2
Players Mentioned
