Spiders Drop 4-3 Battle at Penn

Saturday, January 18

Philadelphia, PA

Noon

University of Richmond

Penn

01/18/2020 | Women's Tennis

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The University of Richmond women's tennis team won the doubles point but fell short on the road at the University of Penn, 4-3, Saturday at Hecht Tennis Center.

Richmond (1-1) took a 1-0 lead after winning two of three doubles matches. At No. 1 doubles, senior Lyndell Giffenig (Salisbury, Conn.) and senior Dessi Zlateva (Sofia, Bulgaria) lost 6-1 to Iulia Bryzgalova and Marija Curnic, ranked No. 16 in the nation.

The Spiders picked up a win at No. 3 doubles as senior Lea Owens (Olney, Md.) and sophomore Helene Heiberg (Oslo, Norway) won 6-2 against Sonia Tartakovsky and Gibson Thomas.

Junior Emily Dunbar (Medina, Ohio) and freshman Andrea Campodonico (Asuncion, Paraguay) clinched the doubles point with a 6-4 win against Ashley Zhu and Amanda Chan at No. 2 doubles.

In singles action, Brygalova, ranked 12^th in the nation, tied the match at 1-1 after earning a 6-1, 6-0 win against Dunbar at No. 1 singles. Owens gave Richmond a 2-1 lead after taking down Curnic, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 3 singles.

Penn earned a win at No. 5 singles as Chan won in straight sets against Campodonico, 6-3, 6-4. Heiberg won in straight sets at No. 4 singles against Tartakovsky, 6-2, 6-1.

At No. 6 singles, Thomas won in straight sets against freshman Marta Buendia (Madrid, Spain), 6-4, 6-4. In the deciding match, Penn's Zhu earned a close third set win against Zlateva, 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-1. Zlateva lost a tough first set tiebreaker but bounced back to win the second set 6-1. In the final set, Zhu clinched the win with a score of 6-1.

Richmond will face ACC foe Syracuse on Sunday, Jan. 19, at 4 p.m. inside the bubble at VCU.

Penn 4, Richmond 3
Singles
No. 1 – No. 12 Iulia Bryzgalova (Penn) def. Emily Dunbar, 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 – Ashley Zhu (Penn) def. Dessi Zlateva, 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-1
No. 3 – Lea Owens def. Marija Curnic (Penn), 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 – Helene Heiberg def. Sonia Tartakovsky (Penn), 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 – Amanda Chan (Penn) def. Andrea Campodonico, 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 – Gibson Thomas (Penn) def. Marta Buendia, 6-4, 6-4

Doubles
No. 1 – No. 16 Bryzgalova/Curnic (Penn) def. Giffenig/Zlateva, 6-1
No. 2 – Dunbar/Campodonico def. Zhu/Chan (Penn), 6-4
No. 3 – Heiberg/Owens def. Thomas/Tartakovsky (Penn), 6-2

-UR-