Women’s Tennis Advances to NIT Championship Final with 4-3 Comeback Victory over West Virginia

Tuesday, May 7

Bradenton, Fla.

3:30 p.m.

Tulsa

(2) West Virginia

Women’s Tennis Advances to NIT Championship Final with 4-3 Comeback Victory over West Virginia

5/7/2024 11:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score (PDF)Season Results (PDF)Photo Gallery

BRADENTON, Fla. — It's a great day for Tulsa tennis as the third-seeded women's team will join the men's squad in the UTR Sports NIT Championship Final on Wednesday after weathering an hour and a half delay, fighting for four hours of intense, emotional competition and erasing a 2-0 deficit to escape 4-3 over two-seed West Virginia in Tuesday's semifinal dual.

The 13-12 Golden Hurricane will face the No. 1 Colorado Buffaloes at 10:30 a.m. CT/11:30 a.m. ET in Wednesday's championship match. The Mountaineers of West Virginia end their season with a 15-13 record.

Things started shaky for the Hurricane as West Virginia claimed the doubles point with 6-4 wins in the first and third positions, leaving fifth-year senior Oleksandra Nahurska and junior Ana Naranjo Martinez unfinished at a 5-3 deficit in the No. 2 slot.

Four of the six singles matches needed three full sets to determine a winner, and three TU players started their matches down a set before turning the tables to earn comeback wins. Tulsa never led in the dual match until the final court was won for the Hurricane.

Giving the Mountaineers the 2-0 advantage was Ting-Pei Chang, who earned a 6-3, 6-0 win at the No. 6 position. Junior Maria Berlanga Bandera finally got Tulsa on the board with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) tiebreaker decision over Love-Star Alexis at her usual No. 1 spot. Berlanga's decisive 7-1 tiebreaker win in the second frame locked up her 21^st singles win of the year, improving her team-leading records to 21-10 and 14-7 in dual matches.

Nahurska tied up the dual at two points apiece when she took down Momoko Nagato in the first three-set winner of the day 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in just over two hours. Nahurska won 62% of her break points and will enter Wednesday's championship at 18-10 overall on a three-match win streak.

West Virginia took the lead once more at 3-2 when Tatiana Lipatova came back to win 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 in the fifth line. At this point, the Hurricane needed junior Lily Hutchings and Naranjo to come through and deliver the remaining two positions, which had already gone to third sets.

After trading wins in the first and second sets in the No. 3 position, Hutchings and West Virginia's Michaela Kucharova went toe-to-toe for the first six games of the third and final frame. Hutchings finally broke the deadlock, took the lead at 4-3 and never looked back to secure the court for the Hurricane in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 result.

It all came down to Naranjo at the four-spot versus Maja Dodik. Dodik started the match with a commanding 6-3, 5-3 lead and was within one point of sealing away the match when Naranjo stormed back with four straight game wins to claim the second set 7-5. In the set that decided the dual match, Naranjo took advantage of a 3-1 lead to jump up to a 5-2 advantage needing only one point to seal the deal. Though Dodik survived three match points and added two game wins, Naranjo kept her cool and survived for a final score of 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to clinch the 4-3 team victory for the Hurricane.

Singles
1. Maria Berlanga Bandera (TLS) def. Love-Star Alexis (WVU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-1)
2. Oleksandra Nahurska (TLS) def. Momoko Nagato (WVU) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
3. Lily Hutchings (TLS) def. Michaela Kucharova (WVU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
4. Ana Naranjo Martinez (TLS) def. Maja Dodik (WVU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
5. Tatiana Lipatova (WVU) def. Erin McKenzie (TLS) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
6. Ting-Pei Chang (WVU) def. Tayla Wilmot (TLS) 6-3, 6-0

Doubles
1. Michaela Kucharova/Momoko Nagato (WVU) def. Lily Hutchings/Maria Berlanga Bandera (TLS) 6-4
2. Ting-Pei Chang/Maja Dodik (WVU) vs. Oleksandra Nahurska/Ana Naranjo Martinez (TLS) 5-3, unfinished
3. Love-Star Alexis/Tatiana Lipatova (WVU) def. Tayla Wilmot/Erin McKenzie (TLS) 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,1,2,5,3,4)