March 16, 2014

Results

Akron, Ohio - Karine Celis' third-set tie-breaker victory at No. 2 singles was the deciding match Sunday afternoon in Oakland's 4-3 victory at Akron to conclude non-conference play. The win improved the Golden Grizzlies to 4-8 on the year, while Akron dropped to 9-6.

After winning the first set 7-6 (5), Celis dropped her second set, 6-3, to Akron's Shannon Newnes. In the tiebreaker, Celis outlasted Newnes 7-6 (7) to capture the final singles match of the day, which gave Oakland its fourth point of the contest after trailing the Zips 3-1.

Oakland took the early lead by winning the doubles point. First, Oakland's No. 2 doubles tandem of Tamara Blum and Elizabeth Guy cruised to an 8-2 victory. After Akron tied it up with a win at No. 3 doubles, Oakland's No. 1 doubles team of Celis and Juliana Guevara battled for the decisive 8-6 win.

"Our doubles play set the tone for us in singles," Oakland head coach Heather Redshaw said.

Akron took the first three points of singles with straight-set victories at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6 singles. But Oakland did not falter, with a trio of three-set wins to get the team victory. Guy battled back with a convincing 6-1 third set to win at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1. Then, Guevara rallied for a 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-2 victory at No. 5 singles to tie the match and set the stage for Celis.

Oakland begins Horizon League play next weekend, starting with Milwaukee Saturday, March 22 at 2 p.m. ET in Milwaukee.

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