Tartans Stay Unbeaten with Wins Over Saint Joseph’s and Slippery Rock

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's tennis team, ranked 12th in Division III, hosted Division I Saint Joseph's University and Division II Slippery Rock University on Saturday, February 4 and won both. The Cardinal and Gray started the day with a 5-2 win over Saint Joseph's before topping Slipper Rock 9-0. Carnegie Mellon is now 4-0 overall.

In the Tartans 5-2 win over the Hawks, the Tartans earned the doubles point before winning the first four singles matches. Senior Nicholle Torres (Weston, Fla./Great Neck South)and junior Cori Sidell (Redwood Shores, Calif./Carlmont) won 6-3 at first doubles while junior Katie Lai (Hagatna, Guam/St. Andrew's Episcopal School) and sophomore Jamie Vizelman (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) won 7-5 at third doubles.

Vizelman was the first to finish singles when she won 6-0, 6-3 in the third slot. Torres, playing first singles, then won in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, before Sidell clinched the match with a 7-5, 6-2 straight set victory at second singles. Lai also recorded a straight set win at six doubles winning by the scores of 6-2, 6-1.

Against Slipper Rock, The Tartans took a 3-0 lead following doubles play. Lai and Vizelman took the first point with an 8-1 win at third doubles. Shortly following the tandems win at third double, the freshmen duo of Vinaya Rao (Vernon Hills, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) and Courtney Ollis (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) won 8-5 at second doubles. Torres and Sidell fought back from a 7-4 deficit at first doubles to win 9-8 (5) and complete the sweep.

In singles, the Tartans won all six matches including five in straight sets. Freshman Karena Zhang (Cary, N.C./Green Hope) started the scoring off with a 6-2, 6-0 win in the sixth spot. Vizelman won at third singles 6-1, 6-1 to seal the win, followed by a 6-3, 6-1 victory at fifth singles from Ollis. Torres won a three-set match at first singles, 6-1, 3-6, 10-3, before freshman Vinaya Rao (Vernon Hills, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) and Sidell won by the identical scores of 6-4, 6-1 at fourth and second singles, respectively.

Carnegie Mellon will host Saint Francis (Pa.) University on Saturday, February 11. The match will be held at Alpha Tennis in Harmarville, Pennsylvania.