Nov. 2, 2007

Weronika Bloczynska and Marina Deluca each picked up a pair of wins in what was a solid day of action at the North Texas Classic for the UTEP tennis team on Friday. Deluca also had success in doubles play, joining forces with Ximena Fuentes to secure two wins.

Bloczynska and Deluca, in addition to the doubles tandem of Deluca/Fuentes, will vie for championships in their respective flights on Saturday.

"I thought Weronika and Marina had outstanding days," UTEP head coach Jamie Campbell said. They were involved in tough matches and had to play well to win. Ximena and Marina did a great job too."

UTEP's top player started things on a high note for the Miners in Flight 1 action against a player from Illinois-Chicago. She posted a convincing 6-4, 6-1 triumph before sneaking past a player from UTSA 6-4, 7-5.

In Flight 2 play, Deluca was in cruise control versus a player from UIC. The sophomore sent the opposition packing, 6-1, 6-1. She stayed locked in her second match, posting that 6-2, 6-4 triumph.

Deluca and Fuentes notched a hard-fought victory against a squad from UIC, doing so by a final score of 8-5. The impressive play continued in an 8-1 drubbing of a tandem from UTSA.

Fuentes ran into a buzzsaw in the form of a player from UIC in Flight 3 action, suffering a setback by a score of 6-2, 6-0. She vied to bounce back against UTSA, but came up just short in a three-set battle. The freshman claimed the first set, 6-2, before dropping the second set, 6-3. In the super tie breaker, Fuentes almost pulled it before being saddled with a 10-8 defeat.

Michaud also had a challenging pair of matches. She opened with a tilt against a player from UIC, dropping it 6-3, 6-2. She sought redemption in her second match and played much better. In the end, though, the final score was 6-4, 6-4.

Harmonie Chatagner had a marathon match in Flight 5. She opened on a high note, picking up a 6-2 win. The foe from UIC rallied with a 6-4 win to force the super tie breaker. The sophomore was doubled up, 10-5. After a brief break, Chatagner returned to the courts against a player from UTSA. She fought hard, but was unable to pull out the victory as she fell by a final count of 6-1, 6-4.

Brightly rounded out UTEP's efforts in singles play, falling to an opponent from UIC 6-1, 6-4. Brightly bounced back in a big way with a 6-2, 6-0 rout of a player from North Central Texas College.

Bloczynska/Brightly played extremely well in Flight 1 doubles action, but it wasn't enough as they were defeated by UIC's top tandem 9-7. In its second match of the day, UTEP's duo was dispatched by UTSA, 8-4.

Chatagner/Michaud were defeated by a doubles pair from UIC, 8-3, to open things before suffering an 8-6 setback to a pair from UTSA.