VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State women's tennis team came up just short of the upset of Division I University of Connecticut on Monday morning at the VSU Tennis Complex.  The Blazers won the doubles point and had a 3-1 lead, but were unable to close the match out, falling 4-3.
 
VSU (2-5) won two of the three doubles matches as freshman Aneta Poborilova and junior Natalie Rainke won 6-2 at No. 2 over Caroline Hinshaw and Isabel Petri Bere.  VSU clinched the point as juniors Olivia Pezo and Kayla Greco won 6-3 at No. 3.  UConn's top duo of Maria Constantinou and Olivia Wright barely edged VSU duo of freshmen Denisa Hanakova and Vicktoriia Fedorova, 7-6 (8-6).
 
UConn tied the match at 1-1 with a win at No. 2 as Constantinou won 6-3, 6-3, over Hanakova, but the Blazers used wins from Poborilova (6-4, 6-4) at No. 3 and Greco (2-6, 7-5, 6-0) at No. 4 for a 3-1 lead.  Pezo won the first set at No. 5 over Cameron Didion, 6-4, but was unable to close out the match as Didion won 6-3 and 6-2 in the final two sets trimming the lead to 3-2. 
 
Rainke opened her match at the top spot with Wright using a 7-6 (7-3) victory, but Wright rallied for a pair of 6-3 victories in the final two sets and a 3-3 score.  Coming to the final match at No. 6, sophomore Evelyn Altmaier dropped the first set to Isabella Asenov, but rallied for a 6-3 victory in the second set and held a 4-0 lead in the third set.  Asenov would win seven of the final eight games to clinch the match and the team victory.
 
The Blazers have a quick turnaround as they return to Gulf South Conference play Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET at Montevallo.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for more information on all things Blazer women's tennis.