Nov. 6, 2009

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HOUSTON - The Tulane University women's tennis team combined to go 11-6 and the quartet of Lindsay Dvorak, Hila Elster, Elizabeth Hamlin and Mariam Kurdadze advanced to the semifinals of their respective flights in day one of the Alonti Cougar Fall Draw at the John E. Hoff Courts.

The Green Wave posted seven singles wins in the opening round and went 4-4 in round No. 2. Seven of Tulane's wins came against Conference USA opponents as league members Houston, Rice, Southern Miss and SMU are among the 12 teams participating in the three-day tournament hosted by the University of Houston.

"Today was a great day for us," Tulane head women's tennis coach Terri Sisk said. "We did a really good job of taking an early lead and keeping that lead. That's something we've talked about quite a bit. To have four girls advance to the semifinals of their flight just reiterates the direction we're moving. We did so many things right both on and off the court today, so overall, today was a great day.

"(Getting wins against C-USA teams) was a great feeling for us. We had a goal going into this tournament since it did have a lot of conference teams, and we wanted to send a message early. I thought we did a really good job of executing that today."

Kurdadze, who earned a first-round bye, defeated SMU's Nicole Briceno in the second round of Flight A, 6-2, 6-2 and will take on Southern Miss' Vroni van Berlo on Saturday in the semifinals at 8:30 a.m.

Elster and fellow freshman Emma Helistén both won their first-round matches in Flight B action, defeating Rice's Varsha Shiva Shankar (6-4, 2-6, 1-0 [11-9]) and Sam Houston State's Giorgia Pozzan (7-6 [7-4], 6-2), respectively. Elster advanced to the semis by defeating Southern Miss' Elja van Berlo, 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (10-7) and will take on Angelika Jogasuria of Akron tomorrow. Helistén lost her second-round match to Stephen F. Austin's Alina Shazhko, 6-3, 6-3.

Dvorak and Hamlin made it a Tulane sweep in Flight C as the duo combined for a 4-0 showing in their bracket. Dvorak downed Tennessee-Martin's Anna Winkelmann, 7-5, 6-0, in the opener and swept Houston's Laura Ring, 6-0, 6-3, in the second round. Hamlin, meanwhile, defeated SMU's Casey Kennedy, 6-3, 6-4, in her first match and dumped Houston's Maja Kazimieruk in round No. 2.

Dvorak will face McNeese State's Victoria Martinez and Hamlin will square off against Akron's Prang Pantusart in the semifinals. If both win, it will be an all-Tulane final on Sunday.

Sophomore Caroline Gerber won her opening match in Flight D over Belis de Brito of UT-Martin, 6-4, 6-3 before falling to Annika Hanke from Southeastern Louisiana, 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8).

Sophomores Sharon Siegel and Jessica Lange both won their first-round matches in Flight E action over Rice's Mecklin Ragan (0-6, 6-3, 1-0 [10-5]) and Tennessee-Martin's Alice Lange (7-6, 6-1), respectively. Siegel fell in the second round to Cally Woerner of Sam Houston State, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4), and Lange followed suit to Southern Miss' Zoe Lee, 3-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8).

"It all goes back to last year when we lost in the first round of the (C-USA) tournament," Sisk said of her team's performance so far this weekend. "We decided that we didn't want that to happen again and we would do whatever possible to ensure that. With four of the six losses today being in third-set tie-breakers, however, we realize that we still have work to do."

While the Tulane team will be busy in Saturday's semifinal singles matches, Day 2 of the Alonti Cougar Fall Draw also marks the first doubles matches of the weekend.

The Tulane tandem of Helistén and Dvorak open doubles play at 10 a.m. against Lee College's Nadia Lee and Akina in Doubles Flight A action. Kurdadze and freshman Emma Levy earned a first-round bye in the flight and will face either McNeese State's Ralista Pirdopska and Victoria Martinez or Southeastern Louisiana's Audrey Chelini and Morgane Dadot at 12:30 p.m.

In Flight B Doubles, Fonseca and Gerber will battle Houston's Laura Ring and Maja Kazimieruk at 10 a.m. while Elster and Hamlin start an hour later against Stephen F. Austin's Paola Munuenga and Alice Pacaut. Lange and Siegel are in Flight C where they will square off against Stephen F. Austin's Andreea Enica and Meaghan Ocanus at 11 a.m.

The Alonti Cougar Fall Draw will conclude on Sunday, Nov. 8, with singles championship matches scheduled for 8 a.m. and doubles finals to begin at 11:30 a.m. This weekend's tournament is the final event for Tulane during the fall and the Green Wave will open the spring portion of their schedule against New Mexico in Lubbock, Texas, on Friday, Nov. 22. Tulane's first home spring match is slated for Feb. 6, when the Wave take on Southeastern Louisiana at 1 p.m. in the Goldring Tennis Facility.

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