University of the District of Columbia Women's Tennis Earns Narrow, 5-4 Victory Over Adelphi

WASHINGTON, DC - Maria Vitkina's thrilling 6-4, 1-6, 7-5 win at No. 3 singles propelled the University of the District of Columbia to a 5-4 victory over Adelphi University in a nailbiting East Region match on Sunday afternoon at Southeast Tennis and Learning Center.

With the match tied at four-apiece, Vitkina's win gave the Firebirds the decisive fifth point to claim the victory. District of Columbia, which came in ranked 41st in the nation and 3rd in the East Region, improved to 11-2 with the win. Adelphi, ranked 8th in the region, fell to 7-2 on the season.

The Firebirds claimed victory in two of the three doubles matches and three of the six singles matches.

In doubles play, Kristyna Nepivodova and Maxime Duijst teamed up for an 8-4 win at No. 2 doubles and Jessica Nunez and Vitkina earned a hard-fought, 8-5 victory at No. 1 doubles. The Firebirds' No. 3 team of Sofia Leon and team newcomer Betsy Urman fell by a score of 8-2, but UDC took a 2-1 match lead heading into singles play.

Nepivodova earned the first singles point of the afternoon, defeating Michelle Gurda, 6-3, 6-2 to put UDC up 3-1 in the match. Nunez then lost a very competitive match to Maria Toft, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at No. 1 singles, and Adelphi closed the gap to 3-2.

Duijst battled for a 7-6, 6-2 win over Adelphi's Samra Redzematovic at No. 4 singles, but Adelphi earned two straight victories at No. 6 and 5 singles to force a 4-4 match tie.

With all other competitors off the court and the match riding on the verdict of the third singles match, Vitkina came through to send the Firebirds to their 11th victory of the season.

Next up, UDC will visit Division I crosstown foe Georgetown on Wednesday, March 14th at 2:00 p.m.