DANES ARE BROKEN BY THE ‘ HEART’, 4-3
(Latham, NY). The UAlbany women’s tennis team let victory slip through their fingers today, dropping a 4-3 decision to Sacred Heart at Tri-City Tennis and Fitness. Sarah Iannone just ‘refused to lose’ and was the only double winner for the Danes, taking #5 singles in straight sets, then teaming with co-captain Fran White to clinch the doubles point for the Danes at #3. Cat Crummey continued to compete well, pulling out a three-set win at #4. And the #1 doubles team of Rocio Lopez and Kirsten Scott steamrolled their opponents, 8-1.
The match was played in reverse order due to court availability, with singles going first, followed by doubles. The Danes grabbed early leads with Lopez (#1), Scott (#2), Crummey (#4) and Iannone (#5), and things were looking up for awhile. But the Pioneers top two singles players fought back strong and both earned key wins to put them over the top in singles, making the doubles matches a mere formality.
The Danes now turn their focus to their spring break trip where they play three teams in 10 days in South Carolina. The College of Charleston, nationally ranked as high as #61 earlier this season, will be a big challenge, and the other two teams (Presbyterian and Coastal Carolina) won’t be much easier. So, this promises to be a good test for the Danes as they prepare for April and what they hope will be a run at the AmericaEast championship.
Coach Graham: “This was a tough loss. Even though we were missing two starters, this was a winnable match.
Wish we had a ‘do-over’.
We will take a lesson from this and get better in practice, coach smarter, and compete tougher next time.”
UALBANY 3 SACRED HEART 4
Singles:
1. Gabi Kaldan (SH) def. Rocio Lopez (UA) 6-3,6-4
2. Katie DeRienzo (SH) def. Kirsten Scott (UA) 1-6,6-1,6-3 $
3. Nicole Rydzewski (SH) def. Mireille Hermans (UA) 6-3,6-4
4. Cat Crummey (UA) def. Paige Olson (SH) 6-1,3-6,6-4
5. Sarah Iannone (UA) def. Lindsey Post (SH) 6-4,6-4
6. Alyssa Migliorini (SH) def. Fran White (UA) 6-0,6-1
Order of finish: 6,1,3,5,4,2
$=Clinched match for Sacred Heart
Doubles:
1. Lopez-Scott (UA) def. Kaldan-Olson (SH) 8-1
2. DeRienzo-Post (SH) def. Crummey-Hermans (UA) 8-5
3. Iannone-White (UA) def. Rydzewski-Migliorini (SH) 8-5**
Order of finish: 1,3,2
**Clinched doubles point for UAlbany
UALBANY RECORDS: 5-6 (overall); 1-0 (America East)
NEXT MATCH: Monday, March 18, 2:30pm vs. PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE, Clinton, SC
NEXT HOME MATCH: Friday, April 5, 2:00 p.m. vs. BINGHAMTON @ Dutch Quad courts
UAlbany Tennis Wins First Conference Match of 2013 in Weekend Sweep
ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at women’s tennis team won two matches in 14 hours to raise their record to 5-5 on Saturday, March 9. First they defeated crosstown rival Siena, 4-3, before winning their first America East Conference dual match against Hartford, 6-1. Junior Rocio Lopez and sophomore team co-captain Kirsten Scott went undefeated on the day, teaming up for two doubles victories and winning both of their singles matches. The No. 1 doubles duo has now won three straight.
Siena: The Great Danes quickly dealt fatal blows to the Saints (2-3) No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams to take the doubles point. Three of the singles matches were tough battles. Graduate student Irene Santos fought off multiple set points and came back to win the first set. The Spaniard, Santos, led 2-1, in the second when Lopez clinched the match and Santos was pulled off for health reasons.
Co-captain and sophomore Fran White nearly got her first win of the spring as she turned in a stellar performance at No. 6. White played a solid first set, narrowly losing.
The Great Danes proceeded to romp Siena in the three singles matches needed to clinch the win. Scott got the win first, followed by freshman standout Cat Crummey and lastly was Lopez winning easily.
Hartford: UAlbany (5-5, 1-0 AE) turned around after match one to battle Hartford at Tri-City Fitness. In their first America East dual match of 2013, the Great Danes were victorious. Their only losses were No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles due to default.
UAlbany went into doubles play with a default loss, therefore needing to win both matches to take the first point of the night. UAlbany took care of business as Lopez and Scott showed veteran leadership at the top spot. They shutout their opponent, 8-0. Crummey returned to the court from injury with freshman teammate Mireille Hermans defeated Jessica Galik and Hannah Goldman, 8-3, to clinch the first point.
In singles play, the Great Danes won their matches in order to cruise to victory. Lopez advanced to 9-1 in singles play on the season with a 6-2,6-2 win over Katina Zampas. Scott and Crummey, both recently off injury, also had strong performances. They won 6-1, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1 respectively. Crummey clinched the match with the win.
“It was a long day, starting at 7:30 a.m. and ending at 10:30 p.m. It was a bit of a mental gut-check for everyone.” said coach Gordon Graham. “The team responded well with lots of positive energy. We will be fighting hard to keep that rolling.”
The next match for the Great Danes is Wednesday, March 13 as they host the Sacred Heart Pioneers at Tri-City Fitness in Latham. Match time is set for 2 p.m.
UALBANY 4 SIENA 3 (9:00 a.m. at Sportime, Schenectady, NY)
DANES TURN THE TABLES ON THE RAMS, 5-2

UALBANY 5 RHODE ISLAND 2
- Saturday, March 9, 9:00 a.m. vs. SIENA @ Sportime, Schenectady, NY
- Saturday, March 9, 7:00 p.m. vs. HARTFORD @ Tri-City, Latham, NY
DANES SERVE UP DOUBLE DUALS THIS WEEKEND
The UAlbany women’s tennis team takes to the courts again this weekend. Following the pattern of last weekend’s opposition, the Danes take on an Ivy League team on Saturday, followed the next day by a team that beat them 6-1 last year.

- Saturday, March 2, 9:30 a.m. vs. CORNELL at Ithaca, NY
- Sunday, March 3, 1:00 p.m. vs. UNIV. of RHODE ISLAND at Sportime in Schenectady, NY
Weekend Recap: Lopez Improves to 5-1; UAlbany Drops Two in New Hampshire
HANOVER, NH – The University at Albany women’s tennis team traveled to New Hampshire to play two non-conference away matches last weekend. On Saturday, they competed against Dartmouth University, dropping the match, 7-0. Sunday’s match against Fordham proved to be much more competitive, yet the Great Danes fell just short, 4-3. Sophomore Cheryl Kukkonen made her season debut in No. 3 doubles play while juniorRocio Lopez improved to 5-1 on the season.
The Big Green, who have only one loss on the season to Boston College, improved to 6-1 over the weekend. They swept UAlbany, giving up only eight games in total,. They won all six singles matches in straight sets.
The freshman duo of Cat Crummey and Mireille Hermans took Dartmouth by surprise, winning the first three games of the match. However, Janet Liu and Christina Danosi of the Big Green took eight of the next nine games to win, 8-4.
In singles play, senior Sarah Iannone played a tough match at the No. 6 singles position. She took seven games from Danosi, losing 6-3, 6-4. Hermans managed to pull out five games – losing to Suzy Tan at the No. 4 spot, 6-3, 6-2.
On Sunday, UAlbany (2-4) turned their attention to Fordham. The Rams were also defeated by Dartmouth on Saturday, 6-1. This match proved to have a much more even playing field. The Great Danes showed much improvement after losing to Fordam, 6-1 last season.
The Rams came out strong in doubles play – taking all three matches. The competition’s first point was clinched at the No. 2 spot with Crummey and Hermans falling to Bella Genkina and Anika Novacek, 8-4. The No. 1 doubles team, Spanish teammates Lopez and Irene Bravo, also took four games.
The Great Danes charged back in singles play. They took three matches, coming just one short of upsetting the Rams for the victory.
The match of the day came at the No. 2 spot with Lopez defeating Sarah Ali. The Georgia Tech transfer has been sensational for the Great Danes this season, alternating between the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles spots. Lopez took the first set, 7-5, but then dropped set two 3-6. This created a third set, take-all, scenario. The match went into a tiebreak after a 6-6 stalemate. Lopez took the match, 10-8.
Elsewhere, Kirsten Scott returned from injury to grab her second victory of the season. The sophomore defeated Bella Genkina at the No. 4 spot rather easily, 6-1, 6-2. Bravo, ranked No. 443 by the WTA in 2010, won her match due to injury of her opponent. Angie Dabo clinched the match for Fordham at the No. 3 singles spot. She defeated Hermans, 6-2, 6-3.
“We turned in a good singles performance after dropping the doubles point and nearly got it done against Fordham,” said head coach Gordon Graham. “Santos, Scott and Lopez all won their singles. Lopez’ win was an entertaining match, one of the best UA matches in a long time. The final score shows how much we have improved since our 6-1 loss to them last year.”
The Great Danes will conclude their current four-match roadstand next weekend. They battle Cornell on Saturday in Ithaca, N.Y., match-time set for 9:30 a.m. On Sunday, UAlbany comes home to play Rhode Island at SPORTIME in Schenectady, N.Y. Match-time is set for 11:00 a.m.
UALBANY 0 DARTMOUTH 7 (Saturday, Feb. 23)
Doubles:
1. Okuda-Bessen (D) def. Lopez-Santos (UA) 8-3*
2. Liu-Danosi (D) def. Hermans-Crummey (UA) 8-4
3. Keong-Tan (D) def. Scott-Kukkonen (UA) 8-1
Order of finish: 3,1,2
*= Clinched doubles point for Dartmouth
Singles:
1. Sarah Leonard (D) def. Rocio Lopez (UA) 6-2,6-0
2. Katherine Yah (D) def. Irene Santos (UA) 6-0,6-1
3. Melissa Matsuoka (D) def. Kirsten Scott (UA) 6-0,6-2
4. Suzy Tan (D) def. Mireille Hermans (UA) 6-3,6-2
5. Julienne Keong (D) def. Cat Crummey (UA) 6-1,6-0
6. Christina Danosi (D) def. Sarah Iannone (UA) 6-3,6-4
Order of finish: 2,5,1,3,4,6
$=Clinched match for Dartmouth
DANES DOWN THREE PLAYERS…STILL COME CLOSE TO QUINNIPIAC

UALBANY 1 QUINNIPIAC 6
DANES RUN OVER THE STAGS IN ‘THE BUBBLE’, 5-2

DANES PLAY MAKEUP MATCH vs. STAGS @ 3:00pm

DANES DROP A CLOSE ONE TO FRIARS, 5-2
FAIRFIELD MATCH POSTPONED; PROVIDENCE COMING ON SUNDAY

GREAT DANES HOST 15-LOVE and NYJTL YOUNGSTERS and STAFF
GREAT DANES START SEASON WITH HARD FOUGHT WIN OVER RED FOXES, 4-3

U Albany – DUAL MATCH SEASON BEGINS vs. MARIST @ TRI-CITY
Kandath Update and More
Matt Kandath, a senior at Stanford out of Albany Academy is currently playing the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Northwest Regional. He won his first round match beating Eastern Washington‘s Joseph Cohen 6-4, 6-2. In doubles, Matt is paired with Nolan Paige. I will update results on the blog soon.
Matt has held an ATP ranking (#1331 in the world) and an ITF ranking (the 53rd ranked junior in the world). He also was ranked 11th in the country in the 18 and unders and 6th in the country in the 16 and unders. Last year Matt was Pac-12 All-Academic Second Team honoree.
At Brown, sister Sarah Kandath (Albany Academy for Girls) started the season with a win in doubles with partner Nikita Uberoi over a team from Boston College. Kandath and Uberoi lost the next round but rebounded to win the 7/8 place matchup against another team from Boston College. Next up was the USTA Women’s Collegiate Invitational at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center where Sarah beat Lauren Frazier (Cornell) 6-0, 6-2; Sarah Bessen (Dartmouth) 6-2, 6-4; and Emily Hahn (Princeton) 6-2, 6-4. She lost in the finals to Mariam Zein (Rutgers) 6-2, 7-5. Sarah played #3 Doubles at the event with partner Laura Wiley. Wiley and Kandath recorded wins over Nour/Sidorenko (Charleston Southern) 9-8 (5); Chow/Hahn (Princeton) 8-4; Nelson/Sipes (NC State) 8-6; and Judeh/Kayati (Rutgers) 9-8 (4) in the finals. In the ITA Northeast Regionals at West Point Kandath and Uberoi defeated Athanasiadis/Linero (BC) 9-8 (5) in the first round. Check back for updates.
Follow up to yesterdays post. Anna Dyakiv and the Nichols Bison Women’s Tennis team lost to Endicott in the Conference Championships 5-1. Endicott took all 3 doubles matches. Anna’s singles match was not a factor in the final match score as they did not finish. Anna had split sets 6-4, 2-6 and was losing 0-1 in the third set. I don’t know if she was on serve or down a break.
Cornell, N.Y. – Cheryl Kukkonen recorded two singles wins and combined with Elke Vromans for a doubles victory to lead the UAlbany women’s tennis team at the Cornell Invitational. The competition was a three-day event from Friday, Sept. 14 to Sunday, Sept. 16. The Great Danes saw action against the University at Buffalo and Cornell University.
After advancing on Friday due to opponent illness in Flight A singles play, Kukkonen defeated Cornell’s Christine Ordway in a three-set victory on Saturday. Winning the first set 6-4, the sophomore was then defeated 1-6 before rebounding for a 6-4 final set win to take the match. She was defeated in the third round by Cornell’s Ryann Young, 1-6, 2-6.
In Flight B doubles competition Kukkonen paired up with freshman teammate Elke Vromans to defeat Buffalo’s Laura Hernandez and Tamara Markovic, 8-3. The win gave the Great Danes third place in the Class B doubles bracket. Vromans had dropped a Flight A singles match to Markovic on Friday, 2-6, 3-6.
UAlbany freshman Cat Crummey came up just short in a three-set Flight B singles match against Cornell’s Christy Kung. Crummey defeated Kung 6-2 in the first set before losing the second set in a 6-6 tiebreaker and the third set 2-6. Junior Rocio Lopez also took her opponent to three sets in a Friday Flight A singles match. Lopez lost 2-6, 6-4, 3-6 to Courtney Malinchak of Cornell.