For the second day in a row Barry University claimed a Division II National Championship with the women’s team winning a fourth consecutive title with a 4-0 win over top-ranked Indianapolis.
UIndy came into the match with a perfect 23-0 record and were a perfect 23-0 in the doubles point but the day ended with both of the L columns having a 1 in its place.
Barry, which came into the match with a 14-0 record (13-0 in doubles), picked up the first victory in doubles when Kim Moosbacher and Daniela Farfan ran their dual-match record to 10-0 with a 6-3 win at No. 3. Moosbacher and Farfan jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back from there.
UIndy served for the match at No. 2 doubles but Kristina Lagoda and Alina Kislitskaya would be unable to close it out as BU’s Jil Engelmann and Julie Razafindranaly broke for 5-5.
The match at No. 1 went back and forth while the biggest swing came when BU’s Madeline Bosnjak and Deniz Khazan broke the ITA No. 1 ranked doubles team of Nikol Alekseeva and Anna Novikova to go up 5-4. Barry served it out from 40/30 to clinch the doubles point with a 6-4 win.
Each team claimed three opening sets in singles but Barry quickly put two points on the board with wins at 6 and 2.
BU’s Daniela Farfan ran her dual-match record to 13-0 with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Sofia Sharonova at No. 6. The second set stayed on serve until Farfan broke for 4-2 and then she closed it out with a pair of holds.
BU’s Jil Engelmann came up short in her semifinal match against Central Oklahoma but after going down an early break against Anna Novikova at No. 2 she’d turn it around and come away with a 6-4, 6-1 win.
The Bucs were up 3-0 and had already fought back to get splits on 3 and 5 so it wasn’t so much a matter of IF but where the fourth point would surface.
Barry’s Deniz Khazan was meeting UIndy’s Nikol Alekseeva at No. 1 in a battle of the ITA’s No. 1 and No. 2 ranked singles players. The top-ranked Alekseeva had only dropped 3 sets coming into the match but Khazan quickly added a fourth after a dominating 6-1 first set. Khazan went up a break in the second set and served for the match at 5-3 but she’d be broken from 30/40 to make it 5-4. Alekseeva held serve and then broke again to go up 6-5 but then while serving for the set she’d miss a forehand wide on the deciding point to send it to a tiebreak. Khazan went up 6-3 in the tiebreak but Alekseeva would fight off two match points to pull within 6-5. Khazan wouldn’t let a third match point go to waste and she’d clinch the championship on the next point after Alekseeva hit a backhand well long.
#2 Barry 4, #1 UIndy 0
05/21/2021 at Surprise, AZ (Surprise Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #2 Deniz Khazan (BARRY-W) def. #1 Nikol Alekseeva (UINDY) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
2. #20 Jil Engelmann (BARRY-W) def. #8 Anna Novikova (UINDY) 6-4, 6-1
3. #14 Alina Kislitskaya (UINDY) vs. #26 Madeline Bosnjak (BARRY-W) 6-1, 3-6, 3-2, unfinished
4. Kristina Lagoda (UINDY) vs. Xiyao Wang (BARRY-W) 7-5, 4-3, unfinished
5. Mariia Solnyshkina (UINDY) vs. Julie Razafindranaly (BARRY-W) 6-4, 1-6, 0-1, unfinished
6. Daniela Farfan (BARRY-W) def. Sofia Sharonova (UINDY) 6-0, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #10 Madeline Bosnjak/Deniz Khazan (BARRY-W) def. #1 Nikol Alekseeva/Anna Novikova (UINDY) 6-4
2. #3 Kristina Lagoda/Alina Kislitskaya (UINDY) vs. Jil Engelmann/Julie Razafindranaly (BARRY-W) 5-5, unfinished
3. Kim Moosbacher/Daniela Farfan (BARRY-W) def. Sofia Sharonova/Mariia Solnyshkina (UINDY) 6-3
Match Notes
Barry 15-0; National ranking #2
UIndy 23-1; National ranking #1
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,2,1)
National Championship Match
Barry wins their 4th straight national title, tying the NCAA D-II record
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