Youngstown State women’s tennis team takes Horizon League title with win over Cleveland State
The Youngstown State women’s tennis team won an epic 4-3 Horizon League Championship against rival Cleveland State on Sunday at the Varsity Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Michigan.
See a photo gallery from the match here
The victory was the seventh Horizon League Championship in school history and marked the second time YSU defeated Cleveland State in the final in a match at Michigan. The Guins and Vikes had played outdoors here for the title in 2014, which was YSU’s first-ever crown.
Youngstown State clinched league title in three-hour, 25-minute marathon singles contest
In the three-hour, 25-minute marathon contest, the contest went down to the final singles contest between Cecilia Rosas and Sime Heren at No. 3 singles.
In a grueling contest, Rosas won 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-5. Leading 5-3, Rosas had three Championship points, but Heren battled to tie the set at 5-all. Rosas broke Heren to go in front 6-5. Rosas was then able to serve our the contest to set off a wild celebration as the Guins claimed the title by a 4-3 margin for the second straight year in Michigan.
The Penguins (11-8) jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Vikings (15-8) fought back throughout the match.
Youngstown State wins two doubles matches
In the doubles session, Eliska Masarikova and Elisa Rigazio earned a 6-3 win while Line Greyling and Julia Marko fought back for a 6-4 victory.
Masarikova and Rigazio went in front 4-2 on a booming service ace by Rigazio. With the match at 4-3, Masarikova hit a perfectly placed lob in the back corner to put YSU ahead 5-3. They finished off the match a point later.
At No. 3, Marko and Greyling found themselves trailing 3-0 before finding their footing. The duo scored three straight points to tie the contest, but trailed 4-3. They won the last three points, including a break at 4-4, to help earn the point.
In singles, Rigazio avenged her lone Horizon League defeat of the season to HL Player of the Year Oihane Vicario. Rigazio made quick work of Vicario with a 6-1, 6-2 victory, but she would be a spectator for nearly two hours while awaiting the conclusion of the match.
The Vikings tied the contest at two with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
Marko had a wild match at No. 5 singles to get the Penguins on the brink of clinching the championship. She jumped out a to 5-0 lead in her first set against Avery Durham, only to drop a 7-6 (4) decision after Durham stormed back to win six straight points. In the second set, Marko rolled to a 6-1 win, this time jumping out to a modest 4-0 lead. In third set, she scored the final five points after the set was tied 1-1.
Moka Ito had three match points in the second set against CSU’s Filippa Frogner, but couldn’t get over the hump. Ito won the first set 6-2 and took a 5-4 lead in a back-and-forth second set. Leading 40-30, she had three changes to win the match, but Frogner won the point and took the set 7-5. The third set figured more tremendous play by the two and Ito at one point battled through three match points. However, Frogner won the tiebreaker 7-4 to win the contest.
The Penguins will gather on Monday for the NCAA selection show.
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