East Carolina University
Virginia Tech
Pirates Blanked By Virginia Tech In Season Opener
January 28, 2012 | Women's Tennis
Jan. 28, 2012
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech swept aside East Carolina to earn a 7-0 non-conference women's tennis triumph at the Burrows-Burleson Tennis Center Saturday afternoon in the Lady Pirates' season opener.
The No. 60 Hokies (2-0) opened the match capturing the doubles point by taking all three contests. In the No. 1 spot, Martha Blakely and Courtney Rauscher teamed up to top Neena Wanko and Renata Bakieva 8-3. The Lady Pirate pair of Natalie Collins and Yilian Zhang fell at No. 2 8-2 to Shannon Betts and Katie Blow. Rounding out the doubles play was an 8-5 victory by Emily Lauten and Isel Martinez-Marcos over Danielle Terpko and Dana Gray in the No. 3 match.
Virginia Tech continued its strong performances in the singles competition, posting straight-set triumphs in all but one matchup. Terpko, playing in the No. 4 slot, turned in the Lady Pirates' top effort, taking the second set 7-5 from Rauscher after dropping the opening set 7-5. Rauscher secured the tiebreaker to win the point.
In other singles action, Blakely defeated Wanko 6-1, 6-3 at No. 1 and Martinez-Marcos downed Zhang with a 6-1, 6-4 decision at No. 2. In the No. 3 hole, Betts secured a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Collins. Carol Kahoun picked up a 6-1 victory over Bakieva in the first set before being pushed to a 7-6 (3) triumph in the second set. Completing the singles action was Lauten over Gray 7-6 (3), 6-4.
East Carolina (0-1) has nearly a week off before playing a pair of Conference USA matches in Orlando. The Pirates face host UCF at 2:00 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3, and close the weekend against Tulane at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4.
VIRGINIA TECH 7, EAST CAROLINA 0
Singles Play
No. 1 - Martha Blakely (VT) def. Neena Wanko (ECU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 - Isel Martinez-Marcos (VT) def. Yilian Zhang (ECU) 6-1, 6-4
No. 3 - Shannon Betts (VT) def. Natalie Collins (ECU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 - Courtney Rauscher (VT) def. Danielle Terpko (ECU) 7-5, 5-7, 1-0(7)
No. 5 - Carol Kahoun (VT) def. Renata Bakieva (ECU) 6-1, 7-6 (3)
No. 6 - Emily Lauten (VT) def. Dana Gray (ECU) 7-6(3), 6-4
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Blakely/Rauscher (VT) def. Wanko/Bakieva (ECU) 8-3
No. 2 - Betts/Blow (VT) def. Collins/Zhang (ECU) 8-2
No. 3 - Lauten/Martinez-Marcos (VT) def. Terpko/Gray (ECU) 8-5
Team Records: East Carolina 0-1, Virginia Tech 2-0
Players Mentioned
