KUTZTOWN, Pa. — The Kutztown University women’s tennis team needed one more result to go its way in a 4-3 defeat to Scranton on Monday afternoon at the Keystone Courts.
With a pair of new names in the lineup, the Golden Bears played their first head-to-head match after opening the fall season at this past weekend’s Husky Invitational.
Captain Isabela de Nadai (Vitoria, Brazil/St. Paul’s School) and newcomer Anastassiya Kim (Almaty, Kazakstan), a transfer from Newman College (Kan.), teamed up to win 6-0 at No. 1 doubles but the visiting Royals (2-0) took flights two and three to claim the point.
The duo of Kim and de Nadai accounted for two of Kutztown’s (0-1) three singles victories.
Kim triumphed 6-1, 6-1 over Gisele Falzone at No. 1, while de Nadai bested Erin O’Mara 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2 to pull the Maroon and Gold within 3-2 in the match.
Scranton captured the next two points at No. 5 and No. 6 to clinch the match, though the No. 6 result nearly went in KU’s favor after Kendra Yerger (Harleysville, Pa./Souderton) won the first set against Nicole Krakovich, 6-4. Krakovich rallied to win the second, 6-3, before taking the super tiebreaker, 10-6.
The No. 3 and No. 4 matches also went to super tiebreakers. Sophomore Maddie Gilbert (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) overcame a first set loss to defeat Nora Pencek 4-6, 6-4, 10-3. Freshman Myah Marturano (Reading, Pa./Exeter Township), an Exeter Township grad, fell to Hannah Rowan at No. 3, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-7.
Kutztown is hopeful that its new additions will bolster the lineup. The Bears showed an uptick in performance against the Royals, who went 13-4 and reached the Landmark Conference championship match a season ago, after falling by a 7-0 score on the road last September.
The Golden Bears will face off with Chestnut Hill at the Keystone Courts next Monday, Sept. 21, at 3 p.m.
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