Sept. 18, 2009

Final Stats

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Heading into the Tulane University women's tennis team's season-opener, second-year head coach Terri Sisk made it clear that her goals for the weekend were to get better, work on a lot of little things and polish up the basics of the game.

Despite being forced to move inside due to steady rains in the area, the Green Wave gave their coach plenty of reasons to smile with a solid .500 showing in day one of the Inaugural Memphis Collegiate Invitational Friday at the Racquet Club of Memphis and WellWorx Fitness Club.

Tulane opened the day with a 5-5 showing in doubles play and posted an identical record in singles action. The three-day Memphis Invite continues with Day 2 tomorrow beginning at 9 a.m.

"Going 10-for-20 today was a good day for us in a very good tournament," Sisk said. "Obviously it was an indoor day due to the weather and I never felt that we've played well indoors. We never practice indoors and we're not used to the fast surface.

"There were several little things that we talked about before coming on this trip as far as what we wanted to come away from the weekend with. Today, I thought the girls did an absolutely wonderful job with a lot of these things we discussed and I'm very happy that those were in place today."

Each of Tulane's five doubles teams posted a victory on the day and remain alive for back-draw action on Saturday. The tandem of Mariam Kurdadze and Emma Levy opened Blue 1 Draw action with an 8-3 win over Taylor Morgan and Lindsey Mallory of Samford before falling to Mississippi's Connor Vogel and Gabriela Rangel, 8-4. It was a similar story for Jessica Lange and Sharon Siegel in the Blue 2 Draw as the Green Wave duo posted an 8-2 decision over Belmont's Spencer-Anne Edwards and Lauren Irick before dropping an 8-6 match to Meredith Burns of Tulsa and Anna Marie Herbold of Tennessee-Martin.

Lindsay Dvorak and Elizabeth Hamlin began White 1 Draw play with an 8-2 win over Belmont's Abigail Hogan and Catherine Holliday, while Marcela Fonseca and Caroline Gerber followed suit with an 8-5 victory over Memphis' Amanda Brown and Dara Toulch. The tandem of Dvorak/Hamlin later dropped an 8-5 match to Marta Marcinkowska and Caroline Beaulieu of Tulsa, as did Fonseca/Gerber to Tulsa's JoAnne Karaitiana and Alexandra Kichoutkin, 8-0.

Hila Elster and Emma Helistén, meanwhile, open doubles play in the Gray 1 draw with an 8-6 loss to Tulsa's Jie Zeng and Anastasia Erofeeva, but bounced back to down Angela McGahee and Dina Obukhova of Murray State, 8-5.

"If there is one part if I'm proud of today, it was our doubles play," Sisk said. "We're communicating so much better and playing so much more aggressive this year. Doubles has come a long way and I'm very proud of their effort today."

Dvorak, Lange, Levy, Fonseca and Siegel all posted singles victories on the day to advance in the lead draws of their respective brackets. Dvorak defeated Murray State's Ashley Canty, 6-3, 6-3, in the Blue 2 Draw, Lange outlasted Samford's Jessica Diamond in the Blue 2 Draw, 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7), and Levy made quick work of Tennessee-Martin's Alice Laing in the Gray 1 Draw, 6-1, 6-3. Fonseca, meanwhile, defeated Lindsey Mallory of Samford, 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7) in the Gray 2 Draw, while Siegel downed Samford's Beth Erwin in the Gray 3 Draw, 6-4, 6-4.

"This tournament has a lot of tough teams in it," Sisk said. "I thought we did a good job. Going .500 is not a bad day for a day like today. It's a little frustrating to have to play inside, but you have to do what you have to do."

Following the Memphis Collegiate Invitational, the Green Wave continue fall action on Friday, Sept. 25, when they travel to Houston to open play in the Rice Classic at Jake Hess Stadium.

RESULTS FROM DAY 1 OF THE MEMPHIS COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL

Blue 1 Singles Draw
Angela McGahee (Murray State) def. Mariam Kurdadze (Tulane): 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 1-0 (11-9)
Blue 2 Singles Draw
Lindsay Dvorak (Tulane) def. Ashley Canty (Murray State): 6-3, 6-3
Anastasia Erofeeva (Tulsa) def. Elizabeth Hamlin (Tulane): 6-4, 6-0
Blue 2 Singles Draw
Jessica Lange (Tulane) def. Jessica Diamond (Samford): 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)
Gray 1 Singles Draw
Emma Levy (Tulane) def. Alice Laing (Tennessee-Martin): 6-1, 6-3
Gray 2 Singles Draw
Marcela Fonseca (Tulane) def. Lindsey Mallory (Samford): 7-5, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
Ewe Szatkowska (Tulsa) def. Hila Elster (Tulane): 6-1, 6-1
Gray 3 Singles Draw
Sharon Siegel (Tulane) def. Beth Erwin (Samford): 6-4, 6-4
White 1 Singles Draw
Katarina Gresova (Georgia State) def. Emma Helistén (Tulane): 6-2, 6-0
White 2 Singles Draw
Linda Hricistova (Georgia State) def. Caroline Gerber (Tulane): 6-0, 6-4

Blue 1 Doubles Draw
Mariam Kurdadze/Emma Levy (Tulane) def. Taylor Morgan / Lindsey Mallory (Samford): 8-3
Connor Vogel/ Gabriela Rangel (Mississippi) def. Mariam Kurdadze/Emma Levy (Tulane): 8-4
Blue 2 Doubles Draw<
Jessica Lange/Sharon Siegel (Tulane) def. Spencer-Anne Edwards/Lauren Irick (Belmont): 8-2
Meredith Burns (Tulsa)/Anna Marie Herbold (Tennessee-Martin) def. Jessica Lange/Sharon Siegel (Tulane): 8-6
Gray 1 Doubles Draw<
Jie Zeng/Anastasia Erofeeva (Tulsa) def. Hila Elster/Emma Helistén (Tulane): 8-6
Hila Elster/Emma Helistén (Tulane) def. Angela McGahee/Dina Obukhova (Murray State): 8-5
White 1 Doubles Draw
Lindsay Dvorak/Elizabeth Hamlin (Tulane) def. Abigail Hogan/Catherine Holliday (Belmont): 8-2
Marta Marcinkowska/Caroline Beaulieu (Tulsa) def. Lindsay Dvorak/Elizabeth Hamlin (Tulane): 8-4
Marcela Fonseca/Caroline Gerber (Tulane) def. Amanda Brown/Dara Toulch (Memphis): 8-5
JoAnne Karaitiana/Alexandra Kichoutkin (Tulsa) def. Marcela Fonseca/Caroline Gerber (Tulane): 8-0\

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