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No. 53 Marshall Tennis Downs Morehead State and Eastern Michigan
Kellner drops just one game in two matches

	Senior Catherine Kellner

Jan. 14, 2011

Marshall 7, Morehead State 0

Marshall 6, Eastern Michigan 1

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The No. 53 Marshall University tennis team appeared to be in mid-season form as The Thundering Herd swept its opening day double-header, defeating Morehead State 7-0 and Eastern Michigan 6-1 on Friday at the Huntington Tennis Center.

The Herd (2-0) stormed out of the gates in doubles against Morehead State, winning on courts one, two and three in dominant fashion. On court one, the No. 63 ranked tandem of Michaela Kissell and Dominika Zaprazna made quick work of Lauren Delaney and Jessica Montemayor, 8-1. Court two saw Catherine Kellner and Maria Voscekova take every point en route to an 8-0 triumph. On court three, Kristina Koprcina and Karli Timko won an 8-5 decision against Alix Young and Alexandra Rydberg.

Singles was just as dominant as every Herd player won their match in straight sets and by at least three games, earning a 7-0 team victory.

No. 27 Kissell won her match 6-1, 6-2 on court one, followed up on court two by Zaprazna who won 6-3, 6-3. Courts three and four saw Kellner and Voscekova blank their opponents 6-0, 6-0, while Kara Kucin won 6-1, 6-1 on court five. Timko rounded out the sweep with a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

When all was said and done, the Herd won 96 games to the Eagles 22.

In the night cap, Marshall once again swept doubles to take a 1-0 advantage into singles. Kissell/Zaprazna downed EMU’s Westerink/Mebuke 8-4 on court one. Second doubles saw Kellner/Voscekova prevail 8-3 over Chang/Toncheva, while Kucin/Timko took care of Donnet/de’Lisle-Tarr on court three, 8-5.

Kissell, the top ranked player in the Atlantic Region, won her singles match on court one with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Xu Chang. Kellner breezed through third singles with a 6-0, 6-1 decision, while Koprcina won her match on court four in a tie break, 6-4, 3-6 (10-7). Voscekova won on court five, 6-1, 7-6 (3) and Kara Kucin ended the night on court six with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 victory.

“Morehead State was a great match to open with to get our feet on the ground and get our new players some experience,” head coach John Mercer said. “Eastern Michigan is a team that has basically been the same team for the past three years with a lot of experience, so it was good to see us play well. We played well in most positions but once again it was a good match for us and a great way to get the year started before we start playing Big Ten and SEC teams. We still have a lot to work on, but I was really impressed with only having four days of practice. The girls obviously did a good job over break staying in shape and doing what we asked them to do.”

Up next for the Herd is a battle with its first ranked team of the season as No. 72 Minnesota comes to the Huntington Tennis Center this coming Friday at 4 p.m., followed by a match with the University of Kentucky on Sunday at 12 p.m.