MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Barry University women’s tennis team wasn’t about to let the remnants of its first regular season loss in three years last week linger long. The No. 3-ranked Buccaneers took care of that by beating No. 11 New York Institute of Technology, 7-2, Thursday.
It improved Barry’s record to 16-1 entering Friday’s 3 p.m. match with Emory at Buccaneer Tennis Center. New York Tech lost for just the fourth time in 23 matches.
In a matchup of two of the nation’s top-ranked singles players at the No. 1 spot, Barry’s 31st-ranked Linda Fritschken defeated NYIT’s 30th-ranked Sara Burinato in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. The Bucs No. 19-ranked Karina Goia was on her way to a flawless win over Gabriela Siembab, jetting out to a 6-0, 3-0 start before her Bears counterpart retired at No. 2 singles.
New York Tech’s Justyna Krol was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over ninth-ranked Elisabeth Abanda at No. 3 Barry’s Cristina Valladares, who has performed well this year after sitting out last season, improved to 6-1 with a 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Melanie Benyadi at No. 4.
Barry’s Blanka Szavay defeated Alex Borgenhoff, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 5. NYIT’s Alessia Rossetti was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Bucs freshman Maria Medeiros, who was competing in his first dual match of the spring.
Barry’s Ana Pain and Kimmy Twelker beat Burinato and Madalina Florea, 8-6, at No. 1 doubles. In her first match in over a week, Bucs sophomore All-American Emma Onila returned to the doubles lineup and paired with Fritschken, her No. 1-ranked partner, for an 8-1 win over Siembab and Krol at the No. 2 flight. Abanda and Goia, the 13th-ranked doubles team in the country, defeated Borgenhoff and Benyadi, 8-2, at No. 3 to complete the pairs sweep.
Thursday’s match was the first of three straight this weekend for the Buccaneers. Following Friday’s 3 p.m. match with Division III No. 3 Emory, Barry will host Division II No. 4 Hawai’i Pacific at 10 a.m. Saturday.