April 18, 2002

FORT WORTH, Texas - The Tulane women's tennis team posted four straight set wins in singles play to cruise to a 5-0 victory over East Carolina in the first round of the 2002 Conference USA Women's Tennis Tournament, held at TCU's Friedman Tennis Center, on Thursday.

Tulane, the tournament's No. 5 seed, improves to 13-11 overall and advanced to play No. 4 seed Houston in the second round on Friday.

The Green Wave jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by posting wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to claim the opening doubles point. Maria Ivanov, who returned to the Tulane line-up after missing the last two matches, teamed with Joyce Bergman to record an 8-5 win over the East Carolina duo of Emily Kohl and Meredith Spears at the No. 1 spot. Tulane's victory on Court 2 came when Julie Morris and Ana Saaibi recorded an 8-3 win over Kyndall Jordan and Paulina Sierpinski.

From there, Tulane cruised through singes play to post its fifth straight win in C-USA Tournament play dating back to the 2000 season. Ivanov turned in a 6-1, 6-0 triumph over Daluca Baicu at No. 1 singles, while Morris was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Jordan at the No. 2 spot. Maiko Cook posted a 6-0, 6-1 win over Kohl on Court 5, while Lucy Wood closed out the match with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Cristina Meilicke at the No. 6 spot.

Joyce Bergman and Ana Saaibi were each leading comfortably in the second set when the match was called.

"Everybody played extremely well today," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "I thought we were able to take control of our singles matches early and then everybody just did what it took to win. Tomorrow will afford us an interesting match-up with Houston."

The Green Wave, ranked 64th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, will next face Houston in the second round. Earlier this season, the Cougars posted a 4-3 win over Tulane in New Orleans. Houston advanced with a 4-3 victory over No. 13 seed Charlotte, but played without No. 1 singles player Sarah Borwell, who has missed the last month with an illness.

Doubles
1) Bergman/Ivanov (TU) def. Kohl/Spears (ECU), 8-5
2) Morris/Saaibi (TU) def. Jordan/Sierpinski (ECU), 8-3
3) Axsater/Wood (TU) vs. Baciu/Terrill (ECU), DNF

Singles
1) Ivanov (TU) def. Baicu (ECU), 6-1, 6-0
2) Morris (TU) def. Jordan (ECU), 6-2, 6-4
3) Bergman (TU) vs. Sierpinski (ECU), DNF
4) Saaibi (TU) vs. Spears (ECU), DNF
5) Cook (TU) def. Kohl (ECU), 6-0, 6-1
6) Wood (TU) def. Meilicke (ECU), 6-0, 6-1

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