No. 5 Tennessee 4, No. 12 Auburn 0

 

Recap

No. 5 seed Tennessee (11-11) advanced to the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament by defeating No. 12 seed Auburn (6-18) 4-0 in first round action on Thursday at the Ring Tennis Complex.

 

The Lady Vols got off to a solid start by earning the doubles point after Melissa Schaub and Ghizela Schutte defeated Ashley Cowart and Alex Haney 8-2. Tennessee received an early boost after Auburn’s Erin Gray was forced to withdraw from the No. 3 doubles match due to a depleted roster.

 

In singles action, Gray didn’t compete at the No. 6 position, giving the Lady Vols their second point. Blakeley Griffith gave the Lady Vols their third point by winning the No. 3 singles match over Irina Pljusznyin 6-1, 6-2. Tennessee clinched the win after Schutte won her fourth straight contest in the No. 4 match against Cowart 6-1, 6-3.

 

Agate

Women’s SEC Tournament

Ring Tennis Complex

Gainesville, Fla.

 

Thursday, April 20, 2006

 

First Round

 

Final Score: No. 5 Tennessee 4, No. 12 Auburn 0

Doubles
No. 1. #51 Schaub/Schutte, Tenn., def. Cowart/Haney, Aub., 8-2*

No. 2. Griffith/Jones, Tenn., vs. Chappell/Pljusznyin, 4-3 suspended

No. 3. Orlin/Prendergast, Tenn., def. Gray, Memisi, default

Singles
No. 1. Melissa Schaub, Tenn., vs. Alex Haney, Aub., 1-6, 6-4 suspended

No. 2. Victoria Jones, Tenn., vs. Whitney Chappell, Aub., 6-1, 1-2 suspended

No. 3. Blakeley Griffith, Tenn. def. Irina Pljusznyin, Aub., 6-1, 6-2

No. 4. Ghizela Schutte, Tenn., def. Ashley Cowart, Aub., 6-1, 6-3*

No. 5. Samantha Orlin, Tenn., vs. Dzeljan Memisi, Aub., 6-0, 6-5 suspended

No. 6. Hayley Prendergast, Tenn., def. Erin Gray, Aub., default

 
Order of finish: Doubles-3, 1; Singles-6, 3, 4

 

Tennessee

 

Head Coach Mike Patrick

 

"Both teams were a little shorthanded, but we were fortunate and our girls played well. We came out and, until the last couple of minutes, we had a really good match. Then we got a little nervous, but we finished and that is great. We look forward to playing Georgia tomorrow.”

 

“All the girls that played today did a really good job. We have to thank Hayley for being here because she pulled off both wins today and that was a good job for her, she’s been working really hard.”

 

 

Ghizela Schutte, Sophomore

 

"The whole team came out ready to play today. We went out in the doubles and just gave it everything from the start, and the singles came and everybody played from the beginning.”

 

“We got it done today. It was warm out there and it was tough but we did it.”

 

Auburn

 

Head Coach Tim Gray

"“We competed hard out there. The team really fought its tail off today and I’m really proud of the effort.”

 

“We had a lot of unfortunate circumstances this year, and particularly in the last few weeks. Just some unlucky things like our number six player was in the emergency room last night until about 6 a.m., and a lot of little things like that have plagued us throughout the year. We have a couple kids with injured backs that might be in the line-up if they were healthy, and that can make a difference. Knowing one of your teammates is sick enough to be in an emergency room can affect a team’s mentality, whether they think it does, I know she was in their thoughts today and last night. Did it affect the outcome of the match? I don’t know. But I do know those scenarios do give you something else to think about when you should be focused.”

 

“I just got to Auburn in June, we’ve got some new kids coming in and some real good ones returning, so there is no doubt in my mind we are going to come back strong next year. We’re certainly looking forward to next year.”

 

Alex Haney, Freshman

“I definitely feel like we came out a little down because we automatically lost a point in our number three doubles spot. We tried to fight through, the team stepped up and tried to get in it and play hard. All we can do at this point is look to next year and make that our focus.”

 

No. 8 South Carolina 4, No. 9 Mississippi 1

 

Recap

After dropping the doubles point, No. 8 seed South Carolina rebounded to defeat No. 9 seed Mississippi 4-1 in Southeastern Conference Women’s Tennis Tournament first round action on Thursday at the Ring Tennis Complex.

 

Mississippi earned the doubles point after a comeback win over South Carolina in the No. 2 doubles match. The Rebel team of Nika Koukhartchouk and Kseniia Tokarieva rallied from a 6-5 deficit after a controversial service call shifted momentum. Mississippi won the match 8-6. The Rebel’s No. 1 team of Ilona Somers and Virginia Tomatis held on to defeat South Carolina’s Gira Schofield and Natasa Vuckovic 8-6.

 

South Carolina rebounded by sweeping the singles matches. Co-SEC Freshman of the Year Gira Schofield defeated Kseniia Tokarieva easily 6-1, 6-1 to draw the Gamecocks even. Natasa Vuckovic completed the comeback for South Carolina by defeating Ilona Somers 7-5, 6-4 in the No. 2 singles match.

 

Agate

SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament

Ring Tennis Complex

Gainesville, Fla.

 

Thursday, April 20, 2006

 

First Round

 

Final Score: No. 8 South Carolina 4, No. 9 Mississippi 1

 

Doubles

No. 1 Somers/Tomatis, UM, def. Schofield/ Vuckovic, USC, 8-6 (1:02)

No. 2 Koukhartchouk/Tokarieva, UM, def. Lucas/Gutierrez, USC, 8-6 (1:17)*

No. 3 McGavock/Walsh, USC, def. Cochran/ Subramanian, UM, 8-2 (1:00)

 

Singles

No. 1 #51 Gira Schofield, USC, def. #110 Kseniia Tokarieva, UM, 6-1, 6-1 (1:05)

No. 2 Natasa Vuckovic, USC, def. Ilona Somers, UM, 7-5, 6-4 (2:13)*

No. 3 Christyn Lucas, USC, vs. Nika Koukhartchouk, UM, 3-6, 6-4, 2-1, suspended

No. 4 Miranda Gutierrez, USC, def. Preethi Subramanian, UM, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) (2:10)

No. 5 Megan McGavock, USC, def. Virginia Tomatis, UM, 6-4, 6-3 (1:12)

No. 6 Justine Walsh, USC, vs. Mimi Renaudin, UM, 3-6, 6-6, suspended

 

Order of Finish: Doubles- 3, 1, 2; Singles- 1, 5, 4, 2

 

South Carolina

Head Coach Arlo Elkins

"We have some injuries. We have been struggling in the doubles, I don’t know the last time we won the doubles point. We know that we basically have to win the match without the doubles point. I thought we played well in the singles. There was a controversy with the officials at the end of the doubles’ matches and we could have folded. But I thought we came back and fought really hard in the singles. It was hot out there today. Fortunately, I think we weathered the heat a little better than they did.”

 

“Do we have a big task ahead of us tomorrow, yes. Is it an impossible task? I don’t think so. We’re going into it with the idea that we’re going to have fun and we’ll see what happens.

 

Megan McGavock, Sophomore

 “Justine (Walsh) and I haven’t been playing together that long. It was one of our first doubles victories. I felt like I played pretty well today. We played Florida about a week and a half ago. We lost but all of the matches were really close. I think it’ll be a good match.”

 

Mississippi

Head Coach Mark Beyers

“There were a lot of closes matches today that we could have won. Every time we were ahead 4-3 we let them come back, but they were really close sets. I don’t think the heat was an issue today. We were fortunate to have some heat during practice on Monday and Tuesday. It wasn’t as much of an issue as not being able to close out those close sets.” 

 

Kseniia Tokarieva, Freshman

“I didn’t play my best today and I feel really bad. It was bad for me because I have a tough time playing when it is really hot. Gina Schofield is a really good player. She attacked every ball and played very well.”

 

No. 6 Alabama 4, No. 11 Mississippi State 0

 

Recap

The sixth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Southeastern Conference Western Division foe and 11^th-seeded Mississippi State 4-0 in the opening round of the SEC Tournament Thursday at the Ring Tennis Complex.

 

The Tide (11-10, 6-5 SEC) secured the doubles point with a default win on court No. 3 and an 8-2 victory on court No. 1 before accumulating three final points in singles at courts 1, 3 and 6. Mississippi State ended its season with a 3-16 record, which included a 1-10 mark in conference play.

 

UA’s 14^th-ranked No. 1 doubles tandem of Ashley Bentley and Robin Stephenson disposed of MSU’s Martina Banikova and Elna de Villiers in 51 minutes by a final count of 8-2 to wrap up the doubles point. The Bulldogs did not field a No. 3 doubles team, giving the Tide an automatic victory on the third court.

 

The Bulldogs also had a vacancy on court No. 6 in singles to give the Tide an automatic 2-0 victory heading into the beginning of play on the other five courts. Stephenson, who holds a national singles ranking of No. 19, secured the victory for Alabama as she defeated Renee Joseph 6-2, 6-3, in 57 minutes. Just one minute earlier, Natalie McElveen gave the Tide a 3-0 lead with a 6-1, 6-1, win in straight sets over Daniela Juskova in No. 3 singles. 

 

Agate

SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament

Ring Tennis Complex

Gainesville, Fla.

 

Thursday, April 20, 2006

 

First Round

 

Final Score: No. 6  Alabama 4, No. 11 Mississippi State 0

 

Doubles

No. 1 #14 Bentley/Stephenson , UA, def. Banikova/ de Villiers, MSU, 8-2 (0:51)*

No. 2 Brenes/Muller, UA, vs. Joseph/Juskova, MSU, 7-3, suspended

No. 3 Day/Godwin, UA, default

 

Singles

No. 1 #19 Robin Stephenson, UA, def. Renee Joseph, MSU, 6-2, 6-3 (0:57)*

No. 2 #102 Ashley Bentley, UA, vs. Martina Banikova, MSU, 6-3, 2-0, suspended

No. 3 Mari Muller, UA, def. Daniela Juskova, MSU, 6-1, 6-1 (0:56)

No. 4 Natalie McElveen, UA, vs. Elna de Villiers, MSU, 6-3, suspended

No. 5 Shelley Godwin, UA, vs. Tatiana Feit, MSU, 6-2, 4-2, suspended

No. 6 Sofia Ayala, UA, default

 

Order of Finish: Doubles- 3, 1; Singles- 6, 3, 1

 

Alabama

Head Coach Jenny Mainz

“First and foremost I want to say something about Mississippi State. I think they did a great job today, I think they’ve done a great job of keeping it together, and I think they had a very good competitive spirit today. They were ready to play and I commend them on that. It’s not easy when you don’t have a full squad. We’ve been in that situation before and I can’t say enough about the team and its coaching staff. They came in here ready to fight.”

 

“I was pleased with our performance. We were very deliberate, we came out ready to play and I feel like we were well-prepared. The goal today was strictly business, to play commanding tennis and I’m proud of the way we executed.”

 

“I’m confident we’ll be ready for the remainder of the tournament. It’s going to be a dog fight, and we have to be ready to play any team we may face the rest of the way. Tomorrow I look for Kentucky to come right at us. We played them in the regular season and beat them 4-3 at their place, they’ll be ready for us this time, and likewise we’ll be ready for them. I’m looking forward to a great match.”

 

Natalie McElveen, Senior

 “I came out here today wanting to keep it together on the court and perform for my teammates. I think we’re solid at this point. We have five seniors on this team, four of them playing right now, we’re as strong as ever and we’re ready for the challenge that the SEC tournament always presents.”

 

“It definitely improved our mentality today knowing we would start out with an advantage in this match. We wanted to take care of business and get off the courts and start preparing for the next round. We knew we only had to get two singles matches after we got the doubles point so we all focused on staying aggressive.”

 

Mississippi State

Head Coach Tracy Lane

“We were definitely out-played. Alabama’s had a good year. They’ve proven themselves and we lost to a good team today. It’s hard coming into a match when you’ve already given up a point. We’ve had to work through that the last couple of weeks. Our main focus is just trying to build character within the program right now and make improvements in our game. We’re ready to move forward.”

 

Renee Joseph, Sophomore

“We fought hard today, but Alabama played really well. It was hot out here and we were trying to get used to it. It takes a lot of character to play already down a point. It’s something that we’ve had to do, but it helps us be stronger in the end.”

 

No. 10 LSU 4, No. 7 Arkansas 2

 

Recap

The 10^th-seeded LSU Tigers upended No. 7-seeded Arkansas 4-2 in the opening round of the Southeastern Conference tournament Thursday at the Ring Tennis Complex. It is the Bayou Bengals’ (12-11, 3-8 SEC) second victory over the Lady Razorbacks (10-10, 5-6 SEC) in five days.

 

LSU won two of three doubles matches to secure a 1-0 lead heading into singles action. The LSU duo of Marina Chiarelli and Anastasiya Dubova knocked off Arkansas’ Audrey Bordeleau and Ela Kaluder 8-6 in 1:20 to wrap up the doubles point for the Bayou Bengals on court No. 2. In No. 3 doubles, Daysi Espinal and Lauren Seaman mirrored the 8-6 effort in their win over Melissa Cornett and Vlatka Jovanovic for the Tigers’ other doubles win.

 

In singles action, LSU won on three courts, Chiarelli’s upset of 67^th-ranked Kaluder by a final count of 7-5, 6-2, at the No. 2 position to clinch the match for the Tigers. Despite dropping the first set to Karina Ledaja, Camila Caliari came back for LSU’s third point on the afternoon with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-0, win on court No. 5. Seaman extended LSU’s lead to 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-2, decision in straight sets over Melissa Cornett in No. 4 singles.

 

LSU moves onto the quarterfinals, where it will match up with second-seeded Vanderbilt. The match is slated to begin at 2 p.m. EST. The Commodores shut out the Tigers in their first meeting 7-0 on March 12.

 

Agate

Women’s SEC Tournament

Ring Tennis Complex

Gainesville, Fla.

 

Thursday, April 20, 2006

 

First Round

 

Final Score: No. 10 LSU 4, No. 7 Arkansas 2

Doubles
No. 1 Franco/Ledaja, Ark., def. Hedberg/Tucker, LSU, 9-7 (1:15)

No. 2 Chiarelli/Dubova, LSU, def. Bordeleau/Kaluder, Ark., 8-6 (1:20)*

No. 3 Espinal/Seaman, LSU, def. Cornett/Jovanovic, Ark., 8-6 (1:07)

Singles
No. 1 Vlatka Jovanovic, Ark., vs. Mykala Hedberg, LSU, 7-6 (7-3), 5-5, suspended

No. 2 Marina Chiarelli, LSU, def. #67 Ela Kaluder, Ark., 7-5, 6-2 (2:21)*

No. 3 Maryori Franco, Ark., def. Anastasiya Dubova, LSU, 6-3, 7-5 (1:59)

No. 4 Lauren Seaman, LSU, def. Melissa Cornett, Ark., 6-3, 6-2 (1:34)

No. 5 Camila Caliari, LSU, def. Karina Ledaja, Ark., 1-6, 7-5, 6-0 (2:15)

No. 6 Audrey Bordeleau, Ark., def. Daysi Espinal, LSU, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 (2:15)

 
Order of finish: Doubles-3, 1, 2; Singles- 4, 3, 5, 6, 2

 

LSU

Head Coach Tony Minnis

“We were really fortunate. Our doubles were in a hole 6-5 on two courts but we fought back. In singles, Camila Caliari was down a set and fought back to win. That was just all heart and guts. I know that we played very well, but we were still fortunate to win.

 

“I think the last portion of the year, the last seven or eight matches, we’ve been playing with a lot more confidence. We didn’t do what were supposed to early, but now its starting to come around.”

 

“We’re in a position where if we don’t beat Vandy we don’t have a shot at making the tournament. We have been fortunate to make the tournament 11 straight years and if we want to continue that we’re going to have to pull off the upset.”

 

 

Marina Chiarelli, Senior

 “All I did today was hit the ball back and wait for her (Ela Kaluder) to make a mistake. I thought I could play one more ball every point and was there mentally every time. I think my stroke, and everybody’s strokes were shaky today because it was kind of important, this match. I also think we were a little bit tired, but it’s all about how much you want it.”

 

Arkansas

Head Coach Michael Hegarty

“I felt like the doubles was critical, it went down to the wire. And than we had three first sets in singles – almost a fourth – but then they got that third first set and really turned the match in their favor. I really feel like the doubles was the key, though, we might have been able to get to four with the doubles point. But LSU earned the victory and they deserved it today.”

 

“I was pleased to see the team did not quit, that was a very nice thing. We’ve got some good players coming back next year and this was a great learning experience for them, and for the whole team.”