District of Columbia Women’s Tennis Shuts Down Shepherd, 7-2
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV – The University of the District of Columbia women's tennis team bounced back from a loss at NYIT on Saturday with a convincing, 7-2 victory over non-conference foe Shepherd University on Wednesday afternoon.
"I'm very happy with how the team played today," head coach Dickie Mahaffey said after the match. "It's not easy to bounce back from a tough loss, and they did that today in fine fashion."
The Firebirds won all matches aside from the two they had to forfeit due to an insufficient lineup as they improved to 2-1 on the season. Shepherd, which was 14-10 last season, fell to 0-1 to start its 2012-13 season.
District of Columbia took a 2-1 advantage at the end of doubles play despite forfeiting the No. 3 doubles match. Junior Kristyna Nepivodova (Economics – Breznice, Czech Republic/Gymnasium pod Svatou Horou) and sophomore Maxime Duijst (Biology – Valkenswaard, Netherlands/Pleincollege Sint-Joris) earned an 8-1 victory at first doubles, followed by junior Jessica Nunez (Electrical Engineering – Guayaquil, Ecuador/American School of Guayaquil) and junior Sofia Leon (Psychology – Quito, Ecuador/Pensionado Universitario) dominating in an 8-0 win at second doubles.
After a forfeit at No. 6 singles evened the match score at 2-2, senior Tadai Abilla (TV Production – Galloway, NJ/Absegami HS) picked up her first singles win of the season, defeating Emily Johnson, 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 5 spot. Nepivodova followed suit, 6-0, 6-0 over Alice Dalauro to improve to 2-1 on the season, and moved the Firebirds one singles win away from clinching the victory. Duijst earned the match-clinching win over Brooke Davis, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 3 singles. This was her first singles win of the season.
With the match already decided, the Firebirds still claimed singles wins at No. 1 and No. 4 singles. Nunez, the ECC Preseason Player of the Year, recovered from a tough loss at NYIT and defeated Katelyn Mumaw, 6-2, 6-3. Leon then closed the match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Rachel Harrison.
District of Columbia is back in action on Friday as it hosts its season home opener at 11 a.m. against ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas.
UDC - 7, Shepherd University - 2
Doubles
1. Nepivodova/Duijst def. Mumaw/Dalauro (SU) 8-1 2. Nunez/Leon def. Harrison/Davis (SU) 8-0 3. Johnson/Raines (SU) def. insufficient UDC lineup
Singles
1. Jessica Nunez def. Katelyn Mumaw (SU) 6-2, 6-3 2. Kristyna Nepivodova def. Alice Dalauro (SU) 6-0, 6-0 3. Maxime Duijst def. Brooke Davis (SU) 6-0, 6-1 4. Sofia Leon def. Rachel Harrison (SU) 6-0, 6-0 5. Ty Abilla def. Emily Johnson (SU) 6-0, 6-0 6. Chloe Raines def. insufficient UDC lineup
UDC - 7
SU - 2
Order of Completion:
Doubles: 3, 1, 2
Singles: 6, 5, 2, 3, 1, 4
Season Record (W-L): 2 - 1, ECC: 1 - 1