Feb. 22, 2004

RICHMOND, Va. - The No. 75-ranked University of Maryland women's tennis team defeated No. 14-ranked Virginia Commonwealth, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the Thalhimer Tennis Center in Richmond, Va. The Terps evened their record at 4-4 while the Rams dropped to 7-3. Despite losing the doubles point, Maryland won four singles matches to edge VCU for the win.

Maryland went into the doubles portion of the match with a 1-0 lead before any Terp player even took to the court. The Terps took the No. 3 doubles match by default.

However, VCU won both doubles match, gaining an early lead on the Terps.

New to the No. 1 doubles spot was Neda Mihneva (Sofia, Bulgaria) and Ramona But (Timisoara, Romania). The duo faced off against Olga Borisova and Cristina Arribas. The match was decided by a tiebreak ending with VCU taking the match, 9-8 (9-8).

VCU gave the Terps a point when they yielded the No. 6 singles position, loosing by default.

Marianne Baker (Glenelg, Md.) and Emily Marker (Ann Arbor, Mich.) found themselves in a hole they couldn't get out of in their No. 2 doubles match. The pair dropped the decision to Cristina Gago and Silvia Urickova, 8-4.

Singles action saw Maryland's two top seeds fall in very close matches. Marker and But both pushed their opponents to tie-breaks. Marker lost to Olga Borisova, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) and But lost 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), to Silvia Urikova.

With the score even at two, the Terps would have to win the Nos. 3, 4, and 5 positions to come away with a win.

The underclassmen Baker, Mihneva and Jennifer Dent (Safety Harbor, Fla.) came through for the Terps.

Baker dropped the middle set of her three-setter, but came out on top of the Ram's Cristina Gago, 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.

Dent lost the first set, 1-6, but rose to the challenge, and swept the remaining two sets from Cristina Arribas, 6-3, 6-4.

Neda Mihneva did not need a third set for her match. She defeated Camille Ripert, 6-4, 6-3.

The Terps return home for two home matches at the Tennis Center at College Park, where they will face Pennsylvania and Princeton on Feb. 28 and 29.

Final Results #75 Maryland 4, #14 VCU 3

Doubles
1. Olga Borisova/Cristina Arribas (VCU) d. Ramona But/Neda Mihneva (UM) 9-8
2. Cristina Gago/Silvia Urickova (VCU) d. Emily Marker/Marianne Baker (UM)
8-4
3. Maryland won by default

Singles
1. Olga Borisova (VCU) d. Emily Marker (UM) 6-3, 7-6 (3)
2. Silvia Urikova (VCU) d. Ramona But (UM) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3)
3. Marianne Baker (UM) d. Cristina Gago (VCU) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3
4. Jennifer Dent (UM) d. Cristina Arribas (VCU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
5. Neda Mihneva (UM) d. Camille Ripert (VCU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Maryland won by default