May 20, 2009
COLLEGE STATION (SMU) - SMU freshman standout Marta Lesniak battled No. 4 seed and 2008 All-American Ani Mijacika of Clemson in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship, but ultimately fell in three-sets (7-6, 4-6, 5-7) on Wednesday afternoon at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Lesniak claimed a first-set win over the nation's former top-ranked player after falling behind to begin the set. The freshman was trailing 4-1 and 5-2, before she got into a groove. On the strength of her first serve, she was able to pull even at 5-5 and then forced a tie-breaker which she won 7-3 to claim the 7-6 first-set victory.
The native of Poland raced out to a 4-1 lead of her own in the second set and appeared to be in control, but Mijacika had no intentions of falling in straight-sets. She broke Lesniak's serve three times and won the final five games to go on to win the set, 6-4 and extend the match.
Lesniak again jumped out to leads of 1-0 and 3-2 in the third set, before dropping the next three games to fall behind 5-3. With her season on the line, Lesniak held serve to move within 5-4 and then broke Mijacika's serve to even things up at 5-all.
Back on serve, Lesniak was unable to hold this time around to fall behind, 6-5, and moments later Mijacika closed out the match on serve with a winner.
SMU head coach Lauren Longbotham Meisner was proud of her top player and feels that this type of match will give Lesniak confidence heading into the off-season.
"I am really proud of the way that Marta played today," Meisner said. "She played against arguably the best women's singles player in college tennis and fought to the end and played exceptionally well. It was unfortunate that these two had to play each other in the first round, because I think the caliber of play in this match was at a semifinal or final level. I really think Marta will get some confidence from a match like this and can build on what she learned."
Lesniak, although disappointed with the outcome, said that she has learned a lot about the college game in just one season on the Hilltop and also looks forward to getting better in the off-season.
"It was a tough match and could have gone either way," Lesniak said. "We both served well and it was hard to break serves and I think she won because she was able to break my serve. I tried my best today, but she was just better and had a few better serves. We are both really evenly matched and I think if we played 10 more times I would win five and she would win five. If you want to win nationals though, you have to win against everybody and I can't make excuses. I learned from the matches I lost this season and will use what I learned to get better for next year."
The highest ranked C-USA player at No. 59 in the latest ITA rankings, Lesniak posted a 14-2 overall record in singles play this spring after becoming eligible at the midpoint of the spring season. She finished her rookie campaign by winning nine of her last 10 matches and took down three nationally ranked opponents this spring, including a thrilling three-set win over then-No. 4 Aurelija Miseviciure of Arkansas in her debut match as a Mustang.
This was the second consecutive season that Mijacka was a top-eight seed and it was her third-straight appearance in the singles championship. The junior was ranked no lower than No. 5 all season long and improved to 29-8 overall in 2008-09.
"Hopefully these two can meet again down the road," added Meisner. "Mijacka was the top player in the country for most of the season and for Marta to push her to the brink, just shows her potential and shows the bright future of SMU tennis. I am also proud of how she represented not only herself, but SMU. The goal now is to refocus and have her and Sasha ( Aleksandra Malyarschikova) go after the doubles title. Those two are capable of playing at a high level as well and are also capable of beating anybody they play."
Lesniak and Malyarschikova also played at the top doubles spot for SMU once they both joined the lineup at the midpoint of the spring season and the pair are C-USA's automatic bid into the NCAA Doubles Championship. The tandem, currently the league's top ranked doubles team at No. 32, went a perfect 15-0 this spring and will square off against Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg of LSU in the bottom half of the doubles draw on Thursday. Match time is still yet to be determined.
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