Sports > March 27, 2008

By Alex Botoman | Staff writer

The women’s tennis team picked up two ACC road wins against Maryland and Boston College to extend their winning streak to five matches. The Deacons improved to 8-5 (4-0) on the season, and currently stand in sole possession of first place in the ACC.

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Sophomore Sasha Kulikova returns the ball during a home tennis match. Kulikova defeated Boston College’s Dasha Cherkasov March 24. (Kelly Makepeace/Old Gold & Black)

Wake began their road trip on March 22 with a 6-1 victory over Maryland.

The Deacons got the match off to a smooth start by winning the doubles point.

At the No. 1 doubles slot, sophomore Sasha Kulikova and junior Sierra Poske took down Maryland’s Michal Amir and Lisa Miller 8-6.

The Deacs clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 win by junior Christian Tara and junior Ana Jerman over Karin Lundmark and Julia Huschke at No. 2 doubles.

The Terps picked up a consolation win at the No. 3 singles slot through Maggie MacKeever and Oksana Krutiyenko’s win over Wake senior Alex Hirsch and sophomore Aileen Davis.

Wake rolled through the singles matches to wrap up the win.

At No. 2 singles, Kulikova dominated Lundmark, notching a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

At No. 3 singles, Tara rolled past MacKeever 6-1, 6-3.

The Deacons clinched the match with a 6-3, 7-5 win by freshman Katarina Reveche over Krutiyenko at No. 6 singles.

The Terps picked up their lone point at No. 5 singles.

Jerman was playing in her first match of the season, following hand surgery, and retired while down 6-2, 4-3.

The Deacs rounded out the match with a 6-1, 6-3 win by freshman Emilee Malvehy at No. 4 singles and a 7-6(8), 6-0 victory by Hirsch at No. 1 singles.

Wake Forest followed up their win over Maryland with a 4-3 victory at Boston College on March 24.

The Deacons once again went up 1-0 early by winning the doubles point.

At No. 1 doubles, Poske and Kulikova scored an 8-3 upset over the Eagles’ No. 38 ranked team of Lauren Cash and Dasha Cherkasov. Jerman and Tara picked up the clinching win for the Deacs at No. 2 doubles with an 8-4 win over Alina Sullivan and Katharine Attwell.

Boston College picked up an 8-6 victory at No. 3 doubles with a win by the tandem of Gia Nafarrete and Lana Krasnopolsky over Hirsch and Davis.

The singles matches were more closely contested.

At No. 1 singles, Hirsch retired while down 7-5, 3-0 to Krasnoplosky.

Kulikova picked up a win for the Deacons at the No. 2 singles slot with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Cherkasov.

At No. 3 singles, the Eagles’ Cash smoked Tara 6-0, 6-0.

Attwell ground out a tough win for Boston College at No. 4 singles with a 7-6, 1-6, 1-0(4) victory over Poske in a shortened match.

At No. 5 singles Malvehy scored a 6-3, 6-3 win over Sullivan.

Reveche coasted to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Alison Wagner at No. 6 singles to win the fourth match for the Deacons.

Both Kulikova and Malvehy have a perfect 4-0 individual record in ACC singles play.

The road doesn’t get any easier for the Deacs as they travel to take on Clemson on March 29 and No. 2 ranked Georgia Tech on March 30.