Last weekend, Oakland University women’s tennis played Northern Kentucky (NKU) and IU Indy on Friday and Saturday, respectively. The team dominated both matches, bringing its overall record to 7-8 and adding to a four-match win streak.
On Friday, the Golden Grizzlies welcomed the Northern Kentucky Norse to Rochester Hills and promptly defeated them. For those unfamiliar with tennis scoring in college, the matches go like this: three doubles games are simultaneously played. The first team to win two of these matches earns the doubles point. Then, six singles matches are played, with each win counting as a point. The school that reaches four points (best of seven) wins the match.
Freshmen Martyna Piechowicz and Josie Ward formed the first team for OU. It was the first time this season that they played as a pair, and they took care of business. They promptly handled NKU’s Darya Gneidina and Mariajose Hernandez, defeating them 6-1. Piechowicz has now won four double matches in a row, while Ward is on a three-match streak herself.
Sophomores Edie Hammond and Emilia Jarvinen made up Oakland’s second team. Coincidentally, both of them are from Europe: Hammond from England and Jarvinen from Finland. They also dominated the Norse, winning their match 6-2. Hammond and Jarvinen have been paired together now for four consecutive meets, and before the IU Indy game, they had won three straight doubles matches.
The third doubles team comprised of freshman Nisa Bulut and graduate student Warisara “Best” Lee. Bulut and Lee were well on their way to a win, as well, before their game ended early at 5-2 because the other two games had finished.
Oakland’s domination continued into the singles matches. Jarvinen continued her excellent day with a steady win over opponent Ashlee Fisk, while Bulut won her match. Both of them only needed two sets to secure the Golden Grizzlies’ first two singles points. Hammond fell in a three-set match to Gneidina before Lee picked her up with a dominant two-set win. Piechowicz secured the pivotal fifth point for the Golden Grizzlies in a huge third-set win, giving OU a 5-2 victory over the Norse!
The next day, against the IU Indy Jaguars, it was right back to it. Oakland took their time to honor Lee with her senior day festivities, and then it was time to play. This time around, OU failed to secure the doubles point.
Piechowicz and Ward earned the black and gold’s only doubles victory with an easy 6-1 dub. Hammond and Jarvinen couldn’t take care of business in a 6-4 loss, while Bulut and Lee suffered a tight 7-6 loss against IU Indy’s Hanan Awale and Emma Dell.
With some ground to make up and sitting in a 0–1 hole, OU had to dominate the singles matchups. And dominate, they did. Jarvinen more than made up for her doubles loss with a merciless victory over her singles opponent, winning her sets 6-1 and 6-0. Bulut similarly channeled some frustrations from her doubles loss with 6-0 and 6-4 wins in her match; these two victories gave Oakland the edge over the Jaguars 2-1.
Tara Montreuil, Hammond and Piechowicz all secured singles wins, as well. The only singles loss came from Lee, who couldn’t quite get the win on her senior day. This thorough beat-down in the singles matches helped OU earn its second 5-2 win of the weekend.
Next up for the team is a weekend trip that starts on April 18 and concludes on April 19. The Golden Grizzlies will play the Youngstown State Penguins and Cleveland State Vikings, respectively.