By Will Anderson / The Jambar
The Youngstown State University women’s tennis team hosted the Horizon League Individual Championships on Sept. 26-28 at the YSU Indoor Tennis Center.
Overall, the weekend was a success for Youngstown State as it picked up 18 total match victories — 10 singles and eight doubles. The Penguins advanced to the semifinals with the winning doubles team composed of senior Line Greyling and junior Yeseniia Ovcharova.
The Penguin duo started the 16-team doubles draw with a close win against Cleveland State University freshmen Anna Mancino and Leah Geisz, 8-7 and 10-8.
In the semifinals, Greyling and Ovcharova had a hard fought 8-7 and 11-9 victory over juniors Emilia Jarvinen and Edie Hammond from Oakland University.
The finals then pitted the Youngstown State duo against junior Emilia Durska and sophomore Nel Van Hout from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. The ’Guins team emerged victorious after overcoming early deficits to win 8-6.
The other duo in the semifinals for the Penguins was composed of junior Lorena Cedeno and sophomore Lydia Foster.
That duo picked up doubles wins against Milwaukee-duo seniors Nadiia Konieva and Sara Simonova, 8-6, and Oakland-duo sophomore Martyna Piechowicz and freshman Oliwia Klimas, 8-2. The Penguins then fell to the duo of Durska and Van Hout, 8-3.
The ’Guins got another doubles main-draw win from the duo of senior Yoana Dudova and junior Hanna Telzynska, who defeated Cleveland State-duo sophomore Jenna Redmile and freshman Marta Rodriguez.
The Penguins’ final doubles victory came from sophomore Sarah Partida Garcia and freshman Diane Piranda in doubles back draw.
The singles main draw was won by Piechowicz from Oakland, who only lost one set the whole tournament. The Penguins saw two of their players reach the quarterfinals in Dudova and Telzynska.
Dudova opened the tournament up with a three-set victory against senior Tara Montreuil of Oakland. She then took down junior Kally Kadzinski from Indiana University of Indianapolis, before Dudova fell to eventual tournament runner-up Klimas.
While Telzynska started with a two-set sweep over IU Indy senior Calli Sokolowski, she swept sophomore Honoka Yamashita from Milwaukee. She was defeated by eventual winner Piechowicz in sets 7-6, 7-4 and 6-2.
The other ’Guins player with a win in singles main draw was Partida Garcia, who defeated Durska of Milwaukee 6-3, 1-6 and 6-3.
Ovcharova led the way with two back-draw victories that advanced her to the quarterfinals of that bracket.
In consolation matches, Greyling, Piranda and Partida Grace all picked up victories. Greyling and Piranda completed two-set sweeps, while Partida Grace won her match in three.
The Penguins will be back in action Oct. 10-12 as they compete in the Viking Invitational hosted by Cleveland State at Medical Mutual Tennis Pavilion.
