April 18, 2013
HOUSTON, Texas - Ivana Vukovic came back to defeat Caroline Faught, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 to clinch Old Dominion University women's tennis 4-1 victory over UAB in the first round of the Conference USA Championships.
With the win, ODU improves to 13-8 on the year and moves on to play top seed and No. 20 Rice tomorrow at 11 a.m.
Starting the match at singles, Nika Khmolovska gave the Lady Monarchs the early lead with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elaine Simon at No. 6 before UAB got their first win with a Rachel Daniell win over Nikol Hristova, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 2.
Melissa Esnal Olguin put ODU back on top to stay with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph at No. 5 singles while Juliana Pires knocked off Amy Lowther at No. 4, 7-5, 6-4, setting the stage for Vukovic's match clincher.
Senior Diana Ivanova was leading Isabel Fernandez at No. 1, 3-6, 6-3, 5-3 when the match was stopped.
Rice is 17-4 on the year and led by No. 1 singles player, Natalie Beazant, who is 16-3 and ranked No. 43 in the country. Dominique Harmath is 15-5 at No. 2 singles and No. 70 in the country. The duo is No. 20 in the nation in doubles.