No. 25 Women's Tennis Falls To No. 19 William & Mary, 4-3
Feb. 24, 2002
WILLIAMSBURG, VA – William and Mary freshman Angela Buergis rallied from two separate, large third set deficits to grind out the deciding team point with a win at the fifth singles spot that propelled the 19th-ranked College to a 4-3 victory over the 25th-ranked University of Miami this afternoon at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center.
With the team score tied at 3-3, all eyes turned to the fifth singles court, where Buergis and Miami’s Ewelina Skaza were just moving into the third set. Skaza appeared to have complete control in the deciding set, as she came through with two serve breaks to take a 4-1 lead. But Buergis was not to be denied, as she dug deep to rally out a pair of breaks of her own.
Trailing 5-3, Buergis went on a seven-point tear to go up 6-5, serving 30-love with the match point in sight. Here, Skaza showed some grit of her own, as she came back to record another service break and send the match into a tiebreaker.
In the breaker, Skaza again appeared to have the match in hand, as she vaulted out to a 5-1 lead. Once again, though, Buergis found the strength to make yet another run, and eventually volleyed out the 10-8 win.
Before Buergis’ heroics, the Tribe received some less dramatic, but no less important, straight-set wins from fellow freshmen Candice Fuchs (Sarasota, FL) and Amy Wei (Marietta, GA) at the second and sixth singles positions, respectively.
Equally as important for the College, which moved to 8-2 on the season, was the team point it earned in doubles play. A strength for the team all season, W&M swept the three doubles positions against the Hurricanes. Fuchs and senior captain Jessyca Arthur started the ball rolling with an 8-5 win at the top position. Junior Kari Olsen teamed with Wei to come through with an 8-6 win at the third position, while Buergis and Lena Sherbakov (Mountain View, CA) pulled out a tight 9-7 victory at the No. 2 position.
Miami returns to action Friday travelling to face Florida State at 2 p.m.
#19 William and Mary 4, #25 Miami 3
Singles
1. #63 Mari Toro (UM) d. #68 Jessyca Arthur, 6-3, 7-5
2. #76 Candice Fuchs (W&M) d. #83 Marcy Hora, 6-1, 6-2
3. Staci Stevens (UM) d. Delphine Troch, 6-1, 6-1
4. Sihem Bennacer (UM) d. Lena Sherbakov, 6-4, 6-4
5. Angela Buergis (W&M) d. #118 Ewelina Skaza, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8)
6. Amy Wei (W&M) d. Sara Robbins, 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
1. #27 Arthur/Fuchs (W&M) d. #52 Hora/Toro, 8-5
2. Buergis/Sherbakov (W&M) d. Igna deVilliers/Stevens, 9-7
3. Olsen/Wei (W&M) d. Bennacer/Robbins, 8-6
