Broncos down RedHawks in battle of unbeatens
Dan Kukla
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: Sports
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"Just like any sport the margins are minute," head coach Howard Joffe said. "In two of our matches that we lost we were two points from wining the match. That's like being third and inches and missing the first down."
Both teams came into Saturday's battle undefeated in the MAC and would leave with only one match remaining on their schedule, which means the match-up served as a regular season MAC championship.
The Broncos have dominated conference play for the last three seasons, owning a 33-win streak in the MAC. With Saturday's win they clinched their fourth straight regular season conference championship.
Miami, who has not beaten the Broncos since the 1998-99 season, posed a serious threat to end their reign.
"It was so close," sophomore Brintney Larson said. "Any of those matches could have gone either way so they probably will next time."
WMU struck first, taking the doubles point by wining two of three grueling matches that set an intense competitive tone for the rest of the afternoon. Once singles play started, however, the RedHawks quickly took the upper hand in the match.
Miami's top two players, freshman Anastasia Dracheva and Larson, both came out of the gates hot, jumping out to 3-0 and 5-1 leads in their respective first sets. Kelley Douple also won an early break to take a 3-0 first set lead while the remaining three matches stayed on serve.
The RedHawks' good fortune would not last long, however, as the Broncos quickly showed why they have been such a dominant power in the MAC for so long.
In the No. 1 singles match, Dracheva's opponent used her over powering serve to even the score at 3-3. From there, the two proceeded to trade blows from the baseline, each displaying their skill and power in long and grueling rallies. The set pushed into a tiebreaker where once again Dracheva fell victim to her opponent's dominant serve, losing 7-4.
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