April 12, 2008

OGDEN, Utah -- Manuela Santos and Tabatha Knop started things off well Saturday in Northern Colorado's women's tennis match against Weber State.

And the rest of the Bears followed.

Santos and Knop got a No. 1 doubles victory against the Wildcats' top team of Inalise Pienaar and Ashley Schapper, and Northern Colorado rode that victory to a 5-2 Big Sky Conference win.

It was the Bears' second-straight victory.

"Today's match was very exciting," Northern Colorado coach Brenda Vlasak said. "Our team really stepped it up today. Mental toughness played a huge role in our win today."

Tiffany Knop and Hannah LaForest later won at No. 3 doubles to give the Bears the doubles point.

Tabatha Knop (No. 1), Tiffany Knop (No. 2), Santos (No. 3) and Jodi Ciarvella (No. 6) then all followed with singles victories for Northern Colorado (6-12, 2-5 in the Big Sky).

"There was high energy from the beginning to the end of the match, and I am really proud of our performance today," Vlasak said. "I hope we can keep the momentum going into our final Big Sky match tomorrow."

The Bears will finish their Big Sky slate with a match at 10 a.m. (MT) Sunday against Idaho State in Pocatello, Idaho.

RESULTS
Northern Colorado 5, Weber State 2
Doubles
1. Manuela Santos/Tabatha Knop (UNCO) def. Inalise Piennaar/Ashley Schapper, 8-3
2. Keya Adamson/Gabriella Venditto (WSU) def. Jodi Ciarvella/Karen Groll, 8-4
3. Tiffany Knop/Hannah LaForest (UNCO) def. Elsje Beneke/Kelli Lindley, 8-6

Singles
1. Tabatha Knop (UNCO) def. Venditto, 7-6 (4), 3-6, 10-5
2. Tiffany Knop (UNCO) def. Pienaar, 6-4, 6-3
3. Santos (UNCO) def. Schapper, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
4. Greyce Farias (WSU) def. Groll, 6-1, 6-4
5. Adamson (WSU) def. Luiza Xavier, 6-4, 6-3
6. Ciarvella (UNCO) def. Beneke, 6-2, 6-0