Women's Tennis Rallies to Beat Portland in Home Opener

Saturday, February 3

Providence, R.I.

2 p.m.

Brown University

Portland

Photo by: Ashton Daniel Robertson

Women's Tennis Rallies to Beat Portland in Home Opener

2/3/2024 8:02:00 PM | Women's Tennis

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Brown women's tennis won fourth and sixth singles to come back and defeat the University of Portland, 4-3, in the home opener on Saturday at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

The 35th-ranked duo of sophomore Phoebe Peus and junior Lindsey Hofflander took their first doubles match (6-3), and freshman Dani Ben-Abraham and sophomore Vivian Miller won third doubles (6-4) for the first point of the game.

"Today's match against Portland came down to the wire once again and this time it swung in our favor," said Head Coach Lucie Schmidhauser. "We came out strong in doubles, playing aggressively and with clarity. Phoebe and Lindsey served well and showed off their shot making skills at the net in their line one doubles win. Vivian and Dani brought the doubles point home with their aggressive games. Vivian served out the match fearlessly giving us 1-0 edge going into singles."

Junior Addison Ahlstrom won her fifth singles match (6-3, 6-4), but Portland took a 3-2 advantage with wins at second, first and third singles. The Bears rallied as freshman Anne Yang took fourth singles (6-2, 6-3) and senior Nora Lee clinched the match in a hard fought, three set, sixth singles match (6-3, 7⁵-6, 6-4).

"In singles, we struggled with inconsistent play and focus lapses on most courts," said Schmidhauser. "Addie and Anne competed very well in their matches and played strategically smart matches to make their opponents uncomfortable, especially in crucial moments. With the score tied at 3-3, senior Nora Lee showed incredible resiliency and fight in the final set of her match. After losing the second set in a tiebreaker, Nora was down 0-3 in the third set, but found another gear in her game, started serving and playing more aggressively and outcompeted her opponent in the final stages of the match. Nora's ability to elevate her game when it mattered is a great testament to her willingness to show courage in an incredibly difficult situation. There are many takeaways from today's match and I look forward to our next two matches tomorrow."

UP NEXT
Brown hosts a doubleheader against Villanova at 10 a.m. and Holy Cross at 3 p.m.

DOUBLES RESULTS
No. 35 Peus / Hofflander (Brown) def. Zelic / Pethybridge (UP) 6-3
Lee / Yang (Brown) vs. Rouf / Dimitrijevic (UP) 3-5 unfinished
Ben-Abraham / Miller (Brown) def. Rubio Perez / Pearson (UP) 6-4

SINGLES RESULTS
Iva Zelic (UP) def. Phoebe Peus (Brown) 7⁶-6, 6-3
Sally Pethybridge (UP) def. Vivian Miller (Brown) 7-5, 6-1
Alaia Rubio Perez (UP) def. Lindsey Hofflander (Brown) 7³-6, 3-6, 6-1
Anne Yang (Brown) def. Rimona Rouf (UP) 6-2, 6-3
Addison Ahlstrom (Brown) def. Aleksandra Dimitrijevic (UP) 6-3, 6-4
Nora Lee (Brown) def. Nadine Arbaizar Martinez (UP) 6-3, 6-7, 6-4

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