Women's Tennis Rallies Before Dropping 4-3 Match at Pacific

March 19, 2007

STOCKTON, Calif. - The University of Northern Colorado women's tennis team rallied from down 3-1 to tie with one match left, but ultimately fell short in a 4-3 loss to Pacific on Monday.

The Bears, who dropped to 4-8, feel behind early after Pacific (5-6) swept doubles play and won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, but the Bears got a forfeit win at No. 6 singles and victories at No. 4 and No. 5 singles from Renee Nuccio and Tiffany Knop, respectively, to tie the match.

The day's final match was a No. 3 singles battle between Karen Groll and Pacific's Helen Schneider. After dropping the first set, Groll bounced back to win the second, 6-1. In the final set, the women battled to a tiebreak, which Schneider won 7-4 to seal the match.

"Today's match was a true indicator of where we need to be mentally," said Bears' coach Brenda Vlasak. "We were in every match and could have won the matches we lost. We just seemed to lose it mentally in a few matches and these were the matches that could have decided it for us."

Northern Colorado heads to San Jose State on Tuesday for a match with the Spartans. First serve is 3 p.m.

Pacific 4, Northern Colorado 3

Singles
1. Vana Mrazovic (PAC) def. Tabatha Knop (NCOL), 6-3, 6-4
2. Svenja Arens (PAC) def. Meredith Krystofik (NCOL), 6-3, 7-6 (13)
3. Helen Schneider (PAC) def. Karen Groll (NCOL), 6-1, 1-6, 7-6 (4)
4. Renee Nuccio (NCOL) def. Carla Tamborini (PAC), 6-4, 4-6, 6-0
5. Tiffany Knop (NCOL) def. Sasha Fisher (PAC), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
6. NCOL wins by default

Doubles
1. Mrazovic/Arens (PAC) def. Christina Shelly/Tabatha Knop (NCOL), 8-1
2. Tamborini/Fisher (PAC) def. Nuccio/Groll (NCOL), 8-4
3. Schneider/ Clara Schuhmacher (PAC) def. Krystofik/Tiffany Knop (NCOL), 9-7