University of Minnesota Athletics
Pintusava Falls In Three Sets In ITA Regional Final
10/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
The unraked Pintusava rallied after dropping the first set, but the Arkansas senior prevailed 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 to win the title. Pintusava would have been the first Golden Gopher to win the USTA/ITA Central Region Championship.
Pintusava won her first five matches to advance to the final. She beat Big Ten rival and 37th-ranked Sonja Molnar of Iowa 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and disposed of 36th-ranked Lutfiana Budiharto of Wichita State 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the semifinals.
The Minsk, Belarus, native is 9-4 (3-2 against ranked competitors) in fall competition and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Cal Nike Invitational and the semifinals of the Wildcat Invitational earlier this fall.
Senior Alessandra Ferrazzi, junior Magdalena Wiecha and sophomore Alexa Palen also competed in the event. All three won their opening round singles match, with Wiecha knocking out the defending champion and 69th-ranked Ana-Maria Constantinescu of Oklahoma 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round. Palen and Wiecha lost their second round matches and Ferrazzi advanced to the round of 16.
In doubles, Ferrazzi and Palen-who recently won the top doubles flight at the Wildcat Invitational-had a first round bye before winning three matches to advance to the semifinals. Wiecha and Pintusava also had a first-round bye on the other end of the bracket and then won two matches to advance to the quarterfinals. Wiecha and Pintusava recently won the second doubles flight at the Wildcat Invitational.
"Our whole team has had a very good fall," said coach Tyler Thomson. "This is a group that can do great things together, and it's very exciting and fun to see them improving and pushing each other. The next tournament in North Carolina will be a good opportunity for them to be together on the court in competition. They're developing a consistent level of energy and collaboration at practice, and I'm looking forward to seeing them translate that to competition as a team."
The team wraps up fall tournament play at the Nov. 5-7 Kitty Harrison Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C.
