Air Force Academy

The Air Force women's tennis team split a pair of matches to close out its weekend trip to West Point, N.Y., on Sunday. The Falcons lost to Binghamton, 5-2, then rebounded to defeat Connecticut, 4-3. Air Force is now 4-4 this season.

In the first match of the day, Air Force stormed to a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point with victories at the Nos. 1 and 3 spots. Unfortunately, the momentum stopped as Binghamton cam back to win five of the six singles matches to claim the win.

Senior Miclynn Crail posted AFA's lone singles victory, defeating Gayathri Babisunder, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 6 position.

In the nightcap, Air Force once again won at Nos. 1 and 3 doubles to claim a 1-0 lead. This time, however, the Falcons made that point hold up as they split the six singles matches. Junior Kat Bushey sealed the victory for Air Force with an exciting 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over UConn's Whitney Simcik at the No. 1 position. Bushey won three of her four singles matches during the weekend, all three in three sets.

"In our first match of the day, I was pleased with our doubles and especially liked our execution," said Air Force head coach Kim Gidley. "After winning the doubles point in the first match, I think we got a little too relaxed and didn't give our opponents enough respect. Against UConn, we came out strong, winning the doubles point for the third time in four matches and played much better in singles."

Air Force returns home for a pair of matches on Saturday, Feb. 26 against Northern Colorado at 10 a.m. and CSU-Pueblo at 3 p.m.

Binghamton 5, Air Force 2

Singles
1. Zeynep Altinay (BU) def. Kat Bushey -- 6-3, 6-2
2. Lya Kushnirovich (BU) def. Karissa Walker -- 6-1, 7-6
3. Jelena Koprivica (BU) def. Katie Tomkie -- 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
4. Jen Naegeli (BU) def. Lauren Wilson -- 6-3, 6-2
5. Alyssa Freeman (BU) def. Liza Vaccaro -- 6-2, 6-1
6. Miclynn Crail (AF) def. Gayathri Balasundar -- 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
1. Bushey/Walker (AF) def. Altinay/Kushnirovich -- 8-5
2. Koprivica/Freeman (BU) def. Erika Shortridge/Wilson -- 9-7
3. Tomkie/Crail (AF) def. Naegeli/Balasundar -- 8-5


Air Force 4, Connecticut 3

Singles
1. Kat Bushey (AF) def. Whitney Simcik -- 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
2. Jen LoRusso (UConn) def. Karissa Walker -- 6-3, 6-4
3. Barbara Schumsky (UConn) def. Katie Tomkie -- 6-3, 6-2
4. Lauren Wilson (AF) def. Christine Burek -- 6-3, 6-2
5. Liz Dibbs (UConn) def. Liza Vaccaro -- 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
6. Erika Shortridge (AF) def. Ashley Petruzzi -- 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
1. Bushey/Walker (AF) def. Simcik/Schumsky -- 8-2
2. LoRusso/Burek (UConn) def. Shortridge/Wilson -- 9-8 (4)
3. Tomkie/Crail (AF) def. Dibbs/Petruzzi -- 8-3