Women's Tennis continues streak with Senior Day win

By HANNAH LAFOREST
UNCBears.com

GREELEY -- The Northern Colorado women's tennis team won its seventh straight match Sunday and earned an important Big Sky victory in a 6-1 win against Portland State at Butler-Hancock Tennis Courts.

Head coach Brenda Vlasak's program celebrated Senior Day, and its lone senior, Jennifer Whateley, had a lot to smile about. She earned a 6-3, 6-0 No. 1 singles win against the Vikings Alexa McDonald and then teamed with Adriana Nieto for a 8-6 No. 2 doubles victory against Mariana Todd and Megan Govi.

"Whateley played well today," Vlasak said. "She proved her patience and determination and [showed] why she is our team captain."

The Bears improved to 8-5 this season and continued an unbeaten streak that started March 3 by sweeping the doubles action Sunday, continuing their undefeated doubles run in Big Sky play.

Northern Colorado's No. 1 doubles team of Stephanie Catlin and Elizabeth Tapia knocked off Ashley Spenser and Marti Pellicano 8-1 while Jennifer Buchanan and Chrissie Hoolahan beat Nayanatara Vadali and Alexa McDonald 8-2 at No. 3.

The closest match came at No. 2 doubles, where Whateley and Nieto downed Todd and Govi and gave the Bears motivation entering singles play.

"The girls have worked hard in fine-tuning our doubles skills, and it is definitely showing in our results," Vlasak said.

Whateley capped her day by knocking off McDonald in singles play, Nieto battled to defeat Spenser 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 and Tapia knocked off Pellicano 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 3 position.

Catlin took care of business at No. 5 singles, beating Todd 6-3, 6-0, and Hoolahan defeated Vadali 6-1, 6-1, clinching another conference win for the Bears.

"The match today was a good test to see where we are mentally and physically after two weeks off, and we didn't miss a beat," Vlasak said. "We competed hard in both doubles and singles against a good Portland State team and got the result we were looking for."

Northern Colorado will now look to continue its winning streak next weekend when it hits the road to take on conference rivals Montana and Montana State on Saturday, April 7, and Sunday, April 8. A rivalry match at Colorado State (April 13) and then a final Big Sky match against Sacramento State (April 15) await after that.

The 2012 Big Sky Conferemce Women's Tennis Championship will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22.