NASHVILLE, Tenn. (September 24, 2024) – The University of North Alabama women's tennis team opened the 2024 fall season at the Belmont/Lipscomb Invitational this past weekend, taking home 18 total wins from Nashville, Tenn.
The Lions competed from Sept. 21-22, facing Ball State in doubles action with singles play against fellow Atlantic Sun Conference member EKU, Belmont and ETSU. UNA also played in two extra single matches against the Bruins along with Arkansas State.
North Alabama's weekend started with doubles action against Ball State, taking two of three matches played. Junior Stanislava Bobrovnikova and sophomore Mathilde Delaney got the first win from flight three, defeating Chloe Brown and Elena Malykh, 6-1. Juniors Lena Karlovcan and Eeva Ristola followed with a win over Annika Planinsek and Alana Bristow, 7-5, to complete the doubles play.
Facing EKU in singles play, the Lions dominated their ASUN foe by taking all six completed flights. Karlovcan got the dual started with her second win of the day — a 6-2, 6-0 sixth-flight victory over Izem Olcer. Bobrovnikova earned a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Ceylin Ipek from flight No. 2, and Ristola won for a second time by defeating Marilou Cote, 6-4, 6-1 from flight No. 4.
Sophomores Ada Karabacak and Emma Ansorge won their respective matches against the Colonels, with Karabacak beating Mariia Fedenko, 6-4, 6-3, from the top flight and Ansorge winning over Anastasiia Cherniakova, 6-2, 6(4)-7(7), 10-1 in a super tiebreak. Delaney completed the sweep over EKU with a 7(7)-6(2), 6-0 victory over Sasha Parkhomenko.
The lone extra match from day one saw senior Anoek Pruijmboom beat Alyssa Getty, 6-2, 7(7)-6(5). Freshman Peyton Parrish's match went unfinished, but the Russellville, Ala. native won her opening set, 6-1, to Sofia Bragoli.
UNA swept hosts Belmont to begin day two, with Karabacak, Bobrovnikova, Ansorge and Ristola adding to their win columns.
Karabacak earned UNA's first win against Hana Sokolovic after her opponent retired while winning 4-1. Ansorge defeated Alyssa Getty, 6-0, 6-1, from the third flight, and Bobrovnikova won from the second flight in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Anastasiya Zholdakova. The final matchup resulted in Ristola taking a 6-0, 3-6, 10-2 super tiebreak win over Libbie Hamilton.
The Lions took on ETSU in the final dual, splitting three contests each against the Bucs. Bobrovnikova took home the first win, using a tiebreak win in the opening set to beat Jana Rovira from flight No. 2, 7-6(1), 6-4. Delaney also used a first-set tiebreak win to propel to a 7-6 (4), 6-4 triumph over Ksenia Rage from the fifth flight.
In the final win against the Bucs, Karabacak and ETSU's Linge Steenkamp went all three sets from the top flight. Karabacak dropped the first set to Steenkamp, but the sophomore recovered to take a 5-7, 6-1, 10-7 victory.
Pruijmboom also won her second extra match of the weekend, defeating Abigail Thurmer of Arkansas State, 6-3, 6-2.
All seven competing Lions secured at least two wins over the weekend, led by four by Bobrovnikova. Delaney, Karabacak and Ristola followed with three match wins, with Ansorge, Pruijmboom and Karlovcan rounding out with two wins.
"It was a really positive weekend for being the first weekend of competition," said UNA Director of Tennis Olaya Garrido-Rivas. "Mathilde and Stanislava went undefeated in both singles and doubles, which is really impressive, and Ada went undefeated in singles at the top spot. Definitely lots of things to build on the next couple of weeks before regionals, but I'm excited about it."
Full results can be found here.
Women's Tennis returns to the court on Oct. 10-15, traveling to Auburn, Ala. for the ITA Regionals.
For more information on North Alabama Athletics, visit www.roarlions.com and follow UNA Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
