Sports > February 7, 2008

By LK Davey | Staff writer

The women’s tennis team made an amazing comeback Feb. 3 against the University of Tennessee Volunteers at the WFU Indoor Tennis Center. The singles players for Wake were, in order: senior Alex Hirsch, sophomore Sasha Kulikova, juniors Christian Tara and Sierra Poske, and freshhmen Emilee Malvehy and Katarina Reveche.

The Lady Deacons finished the matches Malvehy (3-6, 2-6), Tara (6-0, 7-6 (7-5)), Poske (6-1, 6-3), Kulikova (6-2, 2-6, 6-1), Reveche (Clinching Match, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)) and Hirsch (6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-7).

The doubles teams were, in order: Hirsch with Kulikova, Tara with Poske and Malvehy with senior Jenna Loeb.

The doubles matches finished Malvehy with Loeb (4-8), Tara with Poske (Clinching Match, 6-8) and Hirsch with Kulikova (8-6).

Although the Wake Forest doubles team of Tara and Poske lost their match, they were both victorious in their singles matches.

Doubles Hirsch and Kulikova came up big for the Lady Deacons when they downed second-ranked Tennessee tandem of sophomores Caitlin Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor 8-6.

Kulikova went on to win her singles match and although Hirsch did not win it was a tough match with a tie-break in the first set.

At this point, the match was tied at 3-3 with only the singles match of Wake’s Reveche and Tennessee freshman Rosalia Alda left to play.

This match would either extend the Lady Vols streak to 5-0, or mark the Deacs’ first upset of 2008.

Alda opened with a 7-4 tiebreaker to take the first set 7-6, but Reveche countered with a 6-3 win to take the contest to a third and final set.

The players exchanged games but it was eventually Reveche who clinched the 7-6 win with a 7-4 tiebreaker.

This finished the match with the Deacons victorious at 4-3.The victory puts the Women’s tennis team record at 2-1.

Kulikova, from Moscow, Russia, was honored as the ACC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week for going 2-0 against both the Nittany Lions and the Volunteers.

The Demon Deacons will have nearly two weeks off from competition before they host Notre Dame and Indiana on Feb. 22 and 23.