Feb. 17, 2008

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - Playing its third straight match in three days, the University of Northern Colorado women's tennis team struggled, winning only the doubles point against the Air Force Academy. Both teams are now 2-6 on the season.

Behind an 8-3 victory at number one singles by Tabatha Knop and Manuela Santos and an 8-4 victory over Jodi Ciarvella and Tiffany Knop at number three doubles, the Bears jumped out to the early 1-0 team lead, however the team did not manage a victory in any set at any of the six singles positions.

"Today's loss was definitely a hard pill to swallow," said Head Coach Brenda Vlasak. "I'm not quite sure where the match turned, but something switched off when we went into our singles matches. We fought so hard and so strong in our doubles to pull out the win.

Luckily we are still early in our season and have plenty of opportunities ahead of us. I have every bit of confidence in this team that we can bounce back from this loss and still be successful in our future matches."

Northern Colorado has to wait a while for that next match, as the Bears are off until February 29 when they host Gonzaga at Work Out West. The match is scheduled to begin at 9:00 a.m.

Air Force 6, Northern Colorado 1

Singles
1. Christine Abayan (AF) def. Tabatha Knop, 6-4, 6-2
2. Lauren Wilson (AF) def. Manuela Santos, 6-1, 6-2
3. Samantha Sarkis (AF) def. Tiffany Knop, 6-3, 6-4
4. Meghan Kiser (AF) def. Jodi Ciarvella, 6-3, 6-4
5. Katrina Eromin (AF) def. Karen Groll, 6-1, 6-2
6. Sarah Cassman (AF) def. Luiza Xavier, 6-2, 6-0

Doubles
1. Ta. Knop/Santos (UNC) def. Wilson/Erika Shortridge, 8-3
2. Abayan/Kiser (AF) def. LaForest/Groll, 8-2
3. Ciarvella/Ti. Knop (UNC) def. Sarkis/Erlyn Rudico, 8-4