Herd Takes Dual at Miami (OH)
HAMILTON, Ohio – The Marshall University tennis team (8-9) took a road dual over the Miami (OH) RedHawks, 4-3, on Friday evening in Hamilton, Ohio.
“It was another good, close match,” tennis head coach John Mercer said after the victory. “It’s always good to come out on the winning side. We had some very clutch matches. Gaby (Clairotte) and Aisling (McGrane) coming back from down 5-2 in doubles to win the tiebreaker 7-0 and both of them winning their singles matches was a great effort. It was also great for Jutte (Van Hansewyck) to pull out a singles a win in straight sets.”
On court one in doubles, No. 67 Emma Vanderheyden and Liz Stefancic jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Brindtha Ramasamy and Sara Zalukar before splitting the final two games to win 6-1. Then on court three, Aisling McGrane and Gabrielle Clairotte trailed 5-2, but came back and clinched the doubles point with a 7-6 win after taking the tiebreaker over Sarah Dev and Emilia Valentinsson.
In singles, after Vanderheyden fell on court one, Jutte Van Hansewyck trailed 5-4 in both the first and second sets to Zalukar on court four. However, she came back and won each set 7-5 for the straight-sets victory.
Stefancic then fell to Laura Rico in a three-set match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, on court two.
On court five, McGrane trailed Valentinsson 2-1 in the third set after splitting each of the first two sets. McGrane made the comeback and took court five, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, as neither competitor led by more than two games in any of the sets.
After Madi Ballow lost a three-set contest on court three, it all came down to Clairotte on court six as she faced Dev. Clairotte took the first set 6-2, but dropped the second by the same score and trailed 4-0 in the third. She dug deep and rallied off six consecutive points to win the match for the Herd. It was the second time Clairotte has clinched the win for Marshall this season.
RESULTS VS. MIAMI (OH)
DOUBLE
Court No. 1 No. 67 Emma Vanderheyden/Liz Stefancic (MAR) def. Brindtha Ramasamy/Sara Zalukar (MIAMI) 6-1
Court No. 2 Laura Rico/Nishitha Saravana (MIAMI) def. Madi Ballow/Jutte Van Hansewyck (MAR) 6-3
Court No. 3 Aisling McGrane/Gabrielle Clairotte (MAR) def. Sarah Dev/Emilia Valentinsson (MIAMI) 7-6
Order of finish: 1,2,3
SINGLES
Court No. 1 Brindtha Ramasamy (MIAMI) def. Emma Vanderheyden (MAR) 6-4, 6-4
Court No. 2 Laura Rico (MIAMI) def. Liz Stefancic (MAR) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Court No. 3 Nishitha Saravana (MIAMI) def. Madi Ballow (MAR) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Court No. 4 Jutte Van Hansewyck (MAR) def. Sara Zalukar (MIAMI) 7-5, 7-5
Court No. 5 Aisling McGrane (MAR) def. Emilia Valentinsson (MIAMI) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
Court No. 6 Gabrielle Clairotte (MAR) def. Sarah Dev (MIAMI) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
Order of finish: 1,4,2,5,3,6
UP NEXT
Marshall heads back on the road to Las Vegas for a contest at UNLV on Thursday.
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