On a night when the College of Staten Island women’s tennis team had to concede a pair of points due to a short-staffed lineup, the Dolphins were still able to get the better of Baruch College, 5-4, as part of CUNYAC play at the National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY. For the Dolphins it was their second CUNYAC win in two days and it lifted the team to 5-3 overall and 4-1 in the CUNYAC. The Bearcats fell to 5-4, 3-2, respectively.
Before the match even started, CSI had to default in No. 3 Doubles and No. 6 Singles, as academic commitments kept a pair of Dolphins out of the lineup today. Down 2-0, CSI down further, 3-1, after doubles play, gaining their only win in the form of Sabrina Bragerton-Nasert and Madiha Mulla in the No. 2 slot, 8-1, over BC’s Jessica Zukhovich and Helen Lee.
From there, however, singles belonged to the Dolphins. BC won in the top spot, as Allie Jackson-Hing downed CSI’s Nozima Toshpulatova, 6-0, 6-2, but CSI answered the call everywhere else. Aziza Jurabaeva got the rally started at No. 3 Singles, playing while doubles was finishing up, and scoring a 6-1, 6-1, winner over Natalie Herzberg. Bragerton-Nasert at No. 2, and Madiha Mulla at No. 4 followed suit and CSI got the match tied.
CSI clinched the match at No. 5, where Michelle Kushnir was locked in a heated match with BC’s Diana Fedorkova. Kushnir won the opening set, 6-3, and then battled to score a 6-4 winner in the second, giving CSI the exhilarating win.
The Dolphins are back in action on Thursday, hosting St. Joseph’s College – LI as part of non-conference play at 4:30pm.
