The University of Washington women’s tennis team beat Utah 4-0 on Friday in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. The Huskies advance to face the winner of the Florida-South Carolina State match in tomorrow’s Round of 32 at 3:00 p.m.

Samantha Smith and Aleksandra Malovic teamed up for the Huskies to take down the Utes’ Evgenia Kryuchkova and Lisa Johnson 8-3 at the No. 3 doubles position. The 21^st-ranked duo of Denise Dy and Joyce Ardies clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 win on court one over Anastasia Putilina and Paige Miles. Utah’s tandem of Erin Monson and Andrea Maughan led 7-6 at the second position over Lina Xu and Venise Chan when their match was halted.

In singles action, Dy breezed past Kryuchkova 6-0, 6-0 in just 51 minutes at the No. 2 spot to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead in the match. Smith pushed the lead to 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-1 win in No. 5 singles over Miles. The match was won on court three, as Ardies took down Monson 6-0, 6-1.

Washington has now won seven of its last eight first-round NCAA Tournament matches. They advanced to the Round of 16 last year after upsetting No. 7 seed Southern Cal.

Post-Match Quotes

Washington Head Coach Jill Hultquist

Thoughts on the match

“I was a little shocked with the scores but it was still in our favor.”

On the heat:

“The one thing that was in the back of our minds was the heat so we were making sure electrolytes were constantly in our system. Today our girls looked so fresh on the court and I think Utah looked just a little hotter than we did.”

On tomorrow’s match:

“Going against Florida will be a good, fun match for me because I played with them. We know we are going to have a big fight because we’re the underdogs but we have to just go in and give it our best shot.”

Senior Joyce Ardies

On the heat:

“We were a little worried about the climate after so long being in Washington. It took a little while to get adapted but with the electrolytes we were better prepared with energy and Utah didn’t show that.”

On preparing for tomorrow’s match:

“The physical part in this weather is extremely important so we want to focus on that going into the next match by getting lots of rest.”

Utah Head Coach Mat Iandolo

Thoughts on the match:

“We got a slow start in the doubles and that cost us a lot. We fought back and we almost got the point, but that slow start really cost us. Getting down 1-0 in a match like this really hurt our momentum considerably. In the spots we got beat, we got beat pretty good. Washington was clearly a better team than us today.”

Thoughts on the season:
“I couldn’t be more pleased when I step away and look at how far the program has come in three years. Almost everything that we’ve done hasn’t been done in a very, very long time by a Utah team. I see us as a young team that’s only going to get better from here. In a way, even though it’s a negative today, it’s been very positive as we move forward.”

NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships First Round

Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex

Gainesville, Fla.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Final Score:  Washington 4, Utah 0

Doubles

1-  (21) Denis Dy/Joyce Ardies, UW d. Anastasia Putilina/ Paige Miles, Utah 8-6*

2-  Erin Monson/ Andrea Maughan, Utah led Lina Xu/Venise Chan, UW 7-6 DNF

3-  Samantha Smith/ Aleksandra Malovic, UW d. Evgenia Kryuchkova/ Lisa Johnson, Utah 8-3

Singles

1-  (15) Venise Chan, UW led (95) Anastasia Putilina, Utah 6-3, 4-2

2-  (10) Denise Dy, UW d. Evgenia Kryuchkova, Utah 6-0, 6-0

3-  Joyce Ardies, UW d. Erin Monson, Utah 6-0, 6-1*

4-  Lisa Johnson, Utah led Lina Xu, UW 6-2, 4-1

5-  Samantha Smith, UW d. Paige Miles, Utah 6-0, 6-1

6-  Aleksandra Malovic, UW led Andrea Maughan, Utah 6-4, 1-0

Order of Finish: Doubles- 3,1*; Singles-2, 5, 3*

Records: Washington 12-6; Utah 17-8

NCAA Seeding: No. 17-32 Washington; No. 33-48 Utah

ITA Ranking: No. 29 Washington; No. 40 Utah

*indicates clinching doubles point/dual match

-UF-