Nov. 7, 2009

Final Stats

HOUSTON - Sophomores Lindsay Dvorak and Mariam Kurdadze advanced to the finals of their singles flights, and tandem of Kurdadze and freshman Emma Levy moved on to the doubles finals as well, as the Tulane University women's tennis team put forth another solid effort in day two of the Alonti Cougar Fall Draw Saturday at the John E. Hoff Courts.

While Kurdadze and Dvorak moved on to the championship match in Flight A and Flight C, respectively, the team of Kurdadze and Levy - who enjoyed a first-round bye - went 2-0 in doubles action on Saturday to advance to the finals of the Flight A. For the day, the Green Wave went 9-7 after going 2-2 in singles play and 7-5 in doubles action.

"Obviously, I thought we did a really good job in a lot of areas today," Tulane head women's tennis coach Terri Sisk said. "Mariam had yet another big day on the court and we'll look to build on that tomorrow. She's got a pretty tough opponent from Akron who is going to push her, so we'll see how she competes tomorrow. Kurdadze and Levy had a great day on the doubles court. They did a great job of playing high-level doubles in both matches and proved why they are the No. 2 seed.

"Lindsay did a great job today of keeping the momentum after losing her second set. Overall I thought it was a wonderful day for Tulane tennis. It was great to see a lot of green out there on the semifinal courts today."

Kurdadze defeated Southern Miss' Vroni van Berlo in the Flight A Singles semifinals, 6-4, 6-0, and will take on Akron's Zara Harutyunyan in the championship match. Dvorak, meanwhile, downed Victoria Martinez of McNeese State, 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (10-4) in the Flight C Singles semis, and will battle Akron's Prang Pantusart in her final on Sunday. Both contests are slated to begin at 11:30 a.m.

In doubles play, Kurdadze and Levy opened play with an 8-6 second-round win over Southeastern Louisiana's Audrey Chelini and Morgane Dadot before downing Stephen F. Austin's Roxana Enica and Alina Shazhko, 8-3 in the semifinals. The Green Wave duo will battle Federica Denti and Giorgia Pozzan of Sam Houston State in the Flight A Doubles finals on Sunday at 8 a.m.

Dvorak and freshman Emma Helistén also played well in Flight A, downing Lee College's Nadia Lee and Akina, 8-0, in the opener before posting an 8-1 win over Martie Wahl and Belisa de Brito of Tennessee-Martin. The Bearkat combo of Denti and Pozzan halted the Tulane tandem from advancing to face their teammates in the finals with an 8-5 win in the semis.

Rookie Hila Elster and sophomore Elizabeth Hamlin also posted a 2-1 showing in doubles play on Saturday. Playing in Flight B, the Green Wave duo defeated Stephen F. Austin's Paola Muntuenga and Alice Pacaut, 8-3, in the opener and advanced to the semifinals with an 8-5 victory over Petra Gudelj and Maria del Rocio Frausto Cornish of McNeese State. Their run to the finals, however, ended with an 8-2 loss to Akron's Angelika Jogasuria and Prang Pantusart.

Caroline Gerber and Marcela Fonseca also picked up a win in Flight B Doubles action, winning a consolation match over Southern Miss' Shannon Rogers and Zoe Lee, 8-5.

"I think that with us doing to so well in this tournament and so many of the girls advancing to the semifinals and finals against a tournament field that features a lot of Conference USA teams, it's an obviously a good sign of things to come in the spring," Sisk said.

Sunday's championship and consolation matches conclude Tulane's fall season. 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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