COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Old Dominion women’s tennis fell just short to Maryland on the road on Friday afternoon by a 4-3 score.
“The day started strong by all three of our teams to earn the doubles point,” Head Coach Dominic Manilla said. “Doubles was an area of emphasis for us the last two weeks so we were happy to see that work pay off. We have some things we need to address on the singles court that I’m confident we will. This is a talented group that is hungry for success. We will treat this loss as something we needed to expose those items. Hats off today to Vika and Marina who played some fantastic tennis with a high degree of maturity.”
Ulyana Romanova and Lidiia Rasskouskaia set the tone for ODU with a 6-1 win over Aida Eissa and Gabriela Pimentel on court three. No. 2 Uladzislava Manzhos and Marina Markina clinched the doubles points shortly after, besting Oliwia Orlinska and Magdalena Baniak, suspending No. 1 Kira Matushkina’s and Victoria Matasova’s match against Emma Ghirardato and Ema Kovacevic at 4-4.
The Terripans responded quickly in the singles matches. No. 4 Diya Challa grabbed Maryland’s first point of the day with a win over Manzhos (6-2, 6-1), with teammate No. 1 Orlinska following suit, downing Matushkina 6-3, 6-0. To put the team one point away from winning, No. 5 Lucia Donnelly defeated Rasskouskaia (6-4, 6-3), giving No. 3 Baniak the chance to claim the match with a 6-2, 7-6 victory over Romanova.
Despite Maryland taking the win, No. 6 Markina and No. 2 Matasova continued playing, besting their respective opponents Kovacevic (6-4, 2-6, 10-7) and Ghirardato (6-2, 5-7, 6-4).
Old Dominion returns home on Wednesday, Feb. 4 to host Penn State at 10 a.m. at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center.
Doubles:
1. Kira Matushkina and Victoria Matasova (ODU) vs. Emma Ghirardato and Ema Kovacevic (UMD) 4-4, suspended
2. Uladzislava Manzhos and Marina Markina (ODU) def. Oliwia Orlinska and Magdalena Baniak (UMD) 6-4
3. Ulyana Romanova and Lidiia Rasskouskaia (ODU) def. Aida Eissa and Gabriela Pimentel (UMD) 6-1
Singles:
1. Oliwia Orlinska (UMD) def. Kira Matushkina (ODU) 6-3, 6-0
2. Victoria Matasova (ODU) def. Emma Ghirardato (UMD) 6-2, 5-7, 6-4
3. Magdalena Baniak (UMD) def. Uylana Romanova (ODU) 6-2, 7-6
4. Diya Challa (UMD) def. Uladzislava Manzhos (ODU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Lucia Donnelly (UMD) def. Lidiia Rasskouskaia (ODU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Marina Markina (ODU) def. Ema Kovacevic (UMD) 6-4, 2-6, 10-7