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Freshman Anastasia Dracheva, Miami's No. 1 player, prepares for a volley in her singles match Saturday. The match was moved to Hamilton due to poor weather.

Broncos down RedHawks in battle of unbeatens

By: Dan Kukla

Posted: 4/15/08

Miami University's tennis team lost in conference play for the first time this season to Western Michigan University, 6-1, but the final score did not give justice to the level of competition on Saturday, with four of the six singles matches going into a decisive third set.

"Just like any sport the margins are minute," head coach Howard Joffe said. "In two of our matches that we lost we were two points from wining the match. That's like being third and inches and missing the first down."

Both teams came into Saturday's battle undefeated in the MAC and would leave with only one match remaining on their schedule, which means the match-up served as a regular season MAC championship.

The Broncos have dominated conference play for the last three seasons, owning a 33-win streak in the MAC. With Saturday's win they clinched their fourth straight regular season conference championship.

Miami, who has not beaten the Broncos since the 1998-99 season, posed a serious threat to end their reign.

"It was so close," sophomore Brintney Larson said. "Any of those matches could have gone either way so they probably will next time."

WMU struck first, taking the doubles point by wining two of three grueling matches that set an intense competitive tone for the rest of the afternoon. Once singles play started, however, the RedHawks quickly took the upper hand in the match.

Miami's top two players, freshman Anastasia Dracheva and Larson, both came out of the gates hot, jumping out to 3-0 and 5-1 leads in their respective first sets. Kelley Douple also won an early break to take a 3-0 first set lead while the remaining three matches stayed on serve.

The RedHawks' good fortune would not last long, however, as the Broncos quickly showed why they have been such a dominant power in the MAC for so long.

In the No. 1 singles match, Dracheva's opponent used her over powering serve to even the score at 3-3. From there, the two proceeded to trade blows from the baseline, each displaying their skill and power in long and grueling rallies. The set pushed into a tiebreaker where once again Dracheva fell victim to her opponent's dominant serve, losing 7-4.

"I was real aggressive and I tried to get after her," Dracheva said. "I think she did an adjustment to my game and she got after me and I lost the first set."

Douple was also unable to capitalize on her fast start in the No. 5 singles match. Her 3-0 lead vanished just as quickly as Dracheva's as she too was forced to play a first set tiebreak. Douple seemed to have the set in hand after going up 5-2 in the breaker but once again gave up her lead and fell 8-6.

WMU won four of the six first sets to take a commanding position in the match. With the doubles point already in hand, the Broncos only needed to win three singles matches in order to claim the victory. Miami, however, was not prepared to go down without a fight.

"We came in with a positve mindset," Larson said. "Obviously we've been undefeated so far so we were just kind of trying to stick to the plan that we have been."

Douple rallied from her first set loss to capture the second set 6-4. Senior Victoria Pulido also forced a third set with a 6-2 win in the second. And Larson, who cruised to a 6-2 win in her first set, lead 5-4 in the second, putting her just a game away from closing out the win.

Once again, the Broncos responded.

While Douple carried her momentum into her third set for a 6-2 match sealing win, all of her teammates would come up empty handed. Dracheva continued to battle on court No. 1 but fell 7-6, 6-5. Pulido fell in her decisive thrid set 6-3.

No. 4 seeded freshman Megan Martzolf, who won her opening set 4-6, found herself down 4-1 in the second. She then rallied off four straight games to take a 5-4 lead and move within a game of taking the match. Her opponent responded, however, by forcing a tie breaker, which Martzolf lost 7-4. The loss proved to be deflating as she went on to drop the match in the third set with a 6-3 defeat.

Larson, who was also just a game away from victory, stumbled down the stretch as well. Following suit after her teammates, she was punched to a tiebreak where she lost 7-3. Giving up her chance at the 'w' seemed to rattle her, as Larson quickly fell behind in the third set 3-0 and then 5-1. She would go on to lose 6-3.

"I was just playing my normal game, more aggressive, and I just kind of got away from that," Larson said. "I think she got a little grooved and I didn't really adjust to that very well. She started playing better and I started playing worse."

The RedHawks will now close out their regular season with a home match against Northern Illinois University Friday at 1:00 pm.

Miami will look to use that match as a warm up for the MAC tournament, and a chance to get some healthy bodies back on the court.

"Our locker room looks like a … triage unit," Joffe said. "Cara Wald is not playing at all and she is the heart of our team. Her status is she probably will play against Northern Illinois. We have Megan Martzolf playing injured singles and doubles. We have Sydnee Bridger playing injured in doubles. We have our number one player, Anastasia, with a stress fracture in her foot playing."

Once the RedHawks can get healthy again, the players and coaches alike remain confident that they can bring home the hardware and advance to the NCAA tournament.

"Based on today's performance and some of the kids that we're going to have back in the line up that are banged up, I think we have every chance to win the conference," Joffe said.