Rain Again Thwarts Schedule at Florida Blue SSC Women's Tennis Championship
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For the second straight day, rain threw a kink in the schedule at the Florida Blue SSC Women's Tennis Championship. Thursday's quarterfinal matches that had been postponed were completed on Friday morning before the thunderstorms rolled in, but Friday's semifinals were washed out until Saturday.
An updated schedule appears on the SSC Tennis Championship Central page. With more wet weather forecast on Saturday, the schedule is subject to yet more change.
With no women’s matches finished on Thursday due to inclement weather, Friday was slated to be an extremely busy day of action until rain reared its disruptive head again.
Top-seeded Barry downed No. 8 Tampa 5-0 in a quarterfinal match that saw all three doubles matches beat the weather on Thrusday but had singles matches played Friday morning.
On Thursday, Barry's #1 duo of Mona Mansour and Cristina Valladares beat Meg Wladimirski and Lauren Hewett 8-2. Julie Stas and Olivia Matuszak rolled past Leslie Raymond and Megan Mancini 8-2 in the second flight. Caroline Wendling and Linda Fritschken defeated Thasia Garcia and Briana Ryan 8-1 at #3.
When play resumed Friday, Matuszak quickly ran through her #3 singles match with Meg Wladimirski, winning 6-2, 6-0. That gave the Bucs a 4-0 lead in the match. Sarah Krohnen clinched the victory for Barry with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Megan Manci at #5.
Also in quarterfinal play, No. 2 Lynn blanked No. 7 Florida Southern 5-0. The Knights’ first point came via a #1 doubles win by Iona Ivan and Sabine Krause, who took down Magda Riutort and Sabine Krause 8-4. In the #2 slot, LU’s Ana Kriz and Roxane Alexandru held off Christie Nunnemann and Olivia Spagnuolo 9-7. At #3, Andrea Berkova and Kim Przeszlowski dispatched Joalis Dominguez and Laura Wichmann 8-3 to complete the Lynn doubles sweep.
Ivan and Berkova locked up the Lynn victory as the first two singles matches completed. In the top flight, Ivan rolled past Ruitort 6-2, 6-1. Berkova blanked Nunnemann 6-0, 6-0 in the #4 position.
Saint Leo handled Florida Tech 5-1 in another quarterfinal match. The Lions second-flight tandem of Adrianna Daszkiewicz and Jeanette McDonald set the tone early as they bounced Abigail Greif and Stephanie Dohner 8-3. The next match to finish proved to be the most exciting of the day as the Lions' top pair of Laura Kemkes and Emily Singleton rallied from a 7-4 deficit to defeat the No.12-ranked team of Katarina Huba and Kristina Huba 9-7. The five-point rally is the pair's largest of the season. Maria Benkirane and Selma Hidass wrapped-up the sweep as they out-endured the Panthers' team of Monica Price and Abbey Keister 9-7 at #3.
Kemkes kept the momentum going into single, as she made quick work of Katarina Huba, 6-0, 6-1. After Florida Tech secured its first point of the match when Kristina Huba defeated SLU’s Emily Singleton 6-0, 6-1 in the second slot, the Lions wrapped-up the win with Maria Benkirane shutting out Dohner in straight-sets, 6-0, 6-0.
The quarterfinal match between No. 4 Rollins and No. 5 Nova Southeastern proved to be the most exciting one of the round, with Rollins eventually prevailing 5-3.
NSU took the early 2-1 advantage coming out of doubles. In the second flight, Dominique Wimmer and Charlotte Cote defeated Ashley Rosenberg and Mariana Salvador 8-6. Daria Burobina and Bianca Roberts also had a thriller, edging Elissa DeCampli and Callie Whitlock 9-7. Rollins picked up a point in the #1 doubles position, with Kayli Ragsdale and Lisa Loft beating Alexandra Johansson and Austin Lavallii 8-3.
Rollins pulled even at 2-2 when Salvador posted a 6-0, 6-0 win over Roberts at #4 singles. The Tars took their first lead at #6 with a 6-2, 7-5 win by Ragsdale over Lavallii. NSU tied the match score at 3-3 in the top flight, as Johansson held off Loft 6-4, 6-3. Rosenberg came through with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Wimmer in the #2 slot to put Rollins back in front 4-3. Whitlock clinched the victory in a three-set thriller in the fourth flight, outlasting Burobina 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.
The women’s semifinals and backdraw matches that had been scheduled were lost due to afternoon thunderstorms. Attempts will be made to play all matches on Saturday, though the forecast once again looks problematic.
