SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah State University women's tennis team (1-10) recorded its first win of the season against Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent Norfolk State University (1-5) 6-1 Sunday at the Tiger Tennis Courts in a non-conference battle.
 
Savannah State won all three doubles matches to win the doubles point and to take a 1-0 lead.   SSU's doubles team of freshmen Ekaterina Vorobeva and Shakendra Alston defeated Norfolk State's doubles duo of Tyrika Lee and Makayla Peterson defeated  6-0 at the No. 3 position.
 
SSU's doubles team of freshman Muskaan Ranjan and junior Sansriti Ranjan defeated NSU's doubles duo of Dajana Cvjetkovic and Paula Fortuno 6-2 at the No. 1 position to tie the point at one and SSU's double duo of freshman Sofia Shut'ko and senior Rachida El Kateb defeated NSU's doubles team of Ana Popovic and Bruna Goncalves 6-4 at the No. 2 position to win the doubles point.
 
Savannah State took a 2-0 lead after El Kateb defeated Nena Greenhouse 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 6 singles position and took a 3-0 lead after Alston defeated Lee 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 5 singles position.
 
Norfolk State cut the lead to 3-1 after Cvjetkovic defeated Vorobeva 6-0, 6-0 at the No. 1 singles position, but the Lady Tigers clinched the match after Muskaan Ranjan defeated Popovic 7-5, 6-0 at the No. 3 singles position.
 
Sansriti Ranjan lost the first set to Goncalves 6-4 at the No. 4 singles position, but won the second set 6-0 to force a third-set and won the third set 6-1 to give the Lady Tigers a 5-1 lead.  Shut'ko also lost the first 6-4 against Fortuno at the No. 2 singles position, but battled back to tie the second set at six. 
 
In the tiebreaker point, Shut'ko won the point 7-4 to win the second set 7-6 forcing a tiebreaker third set.  In the tiebreaker set, Kiev, Ukraine native won 10-7 to win the set and to give the Lady Tigers the five point win.
 
The win was the first for Savannah State since the Lady Tigers defeated Albany State University 5-1 on March 7, 2015 snapping a 61-match losing streak.  It's also the first Division I win since the Lady Tigers defeated University of Maryland Eastern Shore 5-0 on April 5, 2014.
 
The Lady Tigers continue the three game homestand with Lafayette College Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Tiger Tennis Courts and concludes the homestand with the only MEAC home match against Florida A&M University Sunday, March 25 at noon for Senior Day. 
  
Savannah State 6, Norfolk State 1
Singles
1. Dajana Cvjetkovic (NSU) d. Ekaterina Vorobeva (SSU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Sofia Shut'ko (SSU) d. Paula Fortuno (NSU) 4-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0 (7)
3. Muskaan Ranjan (SSU) d. Ana Popovic (NSU) 7-5, 6-0
4. Sansriti Ranjan (SSU) d. Bruna Goncalves (NSU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-1
5. Shakendra Alston (SSU) d. Tyrika Lee (NSU) 6-0, 6-0
6. Rachida El Kateb (SSU) d. Nena Greenhouse (NSU) 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish (6,5,1,3,4,2)
 
Doubles 
1. Sansriti Ranjan/Muskaan Ranjan (SSU) d. Dajana Cvjetkovic/Paula Fortuno (NSU) 6-2
2. Sofia Shut'ko/Rachida El Kateb (SSU) d. Ana Popovic/Bruna Goncalves (NSU) 6-4
3. Ekaterina Vorobeva/Shakendra Alston (SSU) d. Tyrika Lee/Makayla Peterson (NSU) 6-0
Order of Finish (3,1,2)
 
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