University of Minnesota Athletics
Palen Wins as Gophers Fall to No. 19 Huskies
2/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Alexa Palen posted Minnesota's lone victory as the Gophers dropped a 6-1 decision to 19th-ranked Washington on Sunday in Seattle.
Palen cruised to a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Lina Xu at No. 3 singles for the Gophers' lone victory. The loss snapped Minnesota's three-match winning streak and dropped its record to 6-3 overall. Washington is now 6-1 overall.
"We are capable of playing much more disciplined as a team," Minnesota coach Tyler Thomson said. "We will do that much better next weekend."
Washington won two tight doubles matches to take the doubles point and a 1-0 lead. Palen and Alessandra Ferrazzi battled Samantha Smith and Venise Chan to a 9-7 setback at No. 2 and Doron Muravnik and Mariana Spilca worked Aleksandra Malovic and Xu to a tiebreaker loss at No. 3.
The Huskies feature two highly-ranked players and both posted singles wins to put Washington ahead 3-0. Chan, ranked 14th nationally, beat Ferrazzi 6-1, 6-2 and Dy, ranked fourth in the country, toppled Koprivica 6-1, 6-1.
Palen's win pulled Minnesota within 3-1, but Joyce Ardies clinched the win for the Huskies with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Jackie Sperling. Malovic beat Magdalena Wiecha 6-3, 6-1 at No. 6 and Smith finished the win for the Huskies by beating Muravnik in a match tiebreaker with a 4-6, 6-2, (10-2) win.
The Gophers open Big Ten play on Friday when they host Iowa at 6 p.m. at the Baseline Tennis Center.
No. 19 Washington 6, No. 52 Minnesota 1
Doubles
No. 1 - #6 Ardies/Dy (UW) def. Koprivica/Sperling (Minn), 8-3
No. 2 - Smith/Chan (UW) def. Ferrazzi/Palen (Minn), 9-7
No. 3 - Malovic/Xu (UW) def. Muravnik/Spilca (Minn), 8-7 (4)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
No. 1 - #14 Venise Chan (UW) def. Alessandra Ferrazzi (Minn), 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 - #4 Denise Dy (UW) def. Tijana Koprivica (Minn), 6-1, 6-1
No. 3 - Alexa Palen (Minn) def. Lina Xu (UW), 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 - Samantha Smith (UW) def. Doron Muravnik (Minn), 4-6, 6-2, (10-2)
No. 5 - Joyce Ardies (UW) def. Jackie Sperling (Minn), 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 - Aleksandra Malovic (UW) def. Magdalena Wiecha (Minn), 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 4
Players Mentioned
