March 31, 2004

Queens Village, N.Y. - The St. John's women's tennis team continued their unbeaten streak this afternoon and improved to 4-1 in the BIG EAST and 10-2 overall with a 6-1 win over Villanova. The match, originally scheduled to be played at St. John's courts, was moved indoors to the Alley Pond Tennis Center due to the weather.

After taking the doubles point, the Red Storm fought off the Wildcats' attempts to chip away at the lead in the two, three and four singles spots, and went on to win the first five singles points, after needing only three for the win. Hande Gorur (Istanbul, Turkey) and Lauren Leo (Staten Island, N.Y.) defeated Candice Carlin and Melissa Reed 8-2 in the number one doubles spot to start the afternoon. Villanova's Jessica Rybacki and Kelly McAndrew out battled Allison Davidson (Cedar Falls, Iowa) and Lauren Lorenzetti (Northfield, N.J.) in the second spot, as they pulled away with an 8-6 win, before the Red Storm's number three team of Kristina Bothova (Bratislava, Slovakia) and Jennifer Liantonio (West Hempstead, N.Y.) beat Courtney Flezzani and Erica Walter 8-2 to claim the doubles point for St. John's.

Gorur continued her strong play through singles action, winning 6-4, 6-2 in the number one spot and kicked off a 5-0 run by the Red Storm. Bothova, who easily won her first set 6-0 in the second spot, was given a challenge by Reed in the second set, but held on for the 6-4 win, giving St. John's a 3-0 advantage. Davidson clinched the match for the Red Storm in the third singles spot, as she beat Flezzani 6-4, 6-1 and was followed by wins from Leo (6-1, 6-4) in the fourth spot and Lorenzetti (6-4, 6-2) in the fifth spot.

Villanova's lone point came in the sixth singles spot as Leighann Reilly beat Liantonio 6-2, 6-2. St. John's will return to BIG EAST action on Sunday at Syracuse. The match is scheduled to begin at noon.