The University of Akron Athletics
Zippy's Top 10 Countdown: No. 3
July 20 | Women's Tennis
Hello again! It's Zippy, your favorite mascote, here today to give you No. 3 on my countdown of the top 10 UA accomplishments of the 2010-11 season!
On May 1, the Zips tennis team scored a comeback win to upset top-seeded Miami (Ohio) 4-3 in the Mid-American Conference tournament championship and claimed the program's first-ever league title. Natalia Kuvakina scored a dramatic three-set, last-match-on-court win at No. 6 singles to give second-seeded Akron the win.
Down 3-2, UA's Prang Pantusart posted a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Megan Martzolf at No. 3 singles to even the score and set the stage for Kuvakina's heroics. The Zips freshman dropped her first set 6-4 to Cara Wald, but got a 6-2 and 6-4 decision in the next two sets to score match point and make Akron the victor.
The Zips opened the day by winning the doubles point. The three pairs flights were decided in numeric order. Martzolf and Stephanie Danesis downed UA's Zara Harutyunyan and Angelina Jogasuria at No. 1, 8-3, but Pantusart and Angelika Jogasuria defeated MU's Riekie Honiball and Jessica Parr at No. 2, 8-2. The Akron duo of Anya Baronayte and Jeremie Benjamin claimed the crucial early point at No. 3 over Wald and Anastasia Dracheva, 8-5.
On the singles court, Angelika Jogasuria lost to Danesis at No. 2, 6-1, 6-4, to make it 1-all, but Harutyunyan got the best of Dracheva at No. 1, 6-4, 6-2 to give the Zips a 2-1 edge. Akron then gave up the Nos. 4 and 5 singles positions to fall behind, 3-2. At No. 4, MU's Nimisha Mohan got the best of Angelina Jogasuria 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 and Honiball took down Baronayte at No. 5, 6-3, 6-2. UA completed the comeback with the victories at Nos. 3 and 6.
With the win, Akron earned the MAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship and faced off against Michigan in the first round in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Make sure to check back tomorrow for the No. 2 UA accomplishment in my Top 10 Countdown and don't forget to continue to send me your best stories from 2011!
I've enjoyed reading the submissions I've received so far and am looking forward to revealing the top entries later this month on GoZips.com! Remember, all fans who have their stories published on GoZips, will receive a special Akron Zips prize!
Good luck and Go Zips!
Players Mentioned
