Tulsa
Memphis
Women's Tennis Tops American Foe Memphis, 4-2
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
TULSA, Okla. - The University of Tulsa women's tennis team picked up its first home win in over a month after beating the Memphis Tigers, 4-2, Saturday afternoon in an American Athletic Conference showdown at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
The win improves the Golden Hurricane to 12-8 overall with a perfect 3-0 record in The American, while Memphis falls to 7-12 and 2-2 in American play.
"We have a great rivalry with Memphis every year," said Head Women's Tennis Coach Dean Orford. "They picked up a win against an Arkansas team who had just beaten us. They also picked duel points against the number one team in the conference (Houston). We knew exactly what we were up against today. We knew it was going to be a battle."
The Hurricane took the early lead by taking the doubles point after 40 minutes of play. Tulsa's Ksenia Laskutova and Renata Kuricova finished their match first, after coasting to a 6-1 win over Anki Wind and Kathryn Hughes from the top spot. Marcelina Cichon and Rongrong Leenabanchong followed suit and clinched the doubles point by beating Marta Morga and Liza Tymchenko, 6-2, in the No. 2 match. Mahitha Dadireddy and Saana Saarteinen finished their match just moments later, posting a 6-3 win over Alyssa Hibberd and Tara McElroy, giving Tulsa the momentum heading in to singles play.
"I'm quite happy with the doubles," said Orford. "We beat a good doubles team, especially in the one position. In the doubles we are slowly improving in the right direction as the season goes along. We are showing definite signs of progress, and hopefully we will peak at the right time, when the conference tournament starts in a couple of weeks."
Tulsa took the first two singles points, earning wins from Kuricova from the six spot and Saarteinen from the five match, to give the Hurricane a commanding 3-0 lead. However, the Tigers rallied back after winning the next two points from the No. 1 and No. 2 position to make the score 3-2.
Cichon picked up the match-clinching point after two hours and forty minutes, picking up a 6-2, 7-6 win over Morga on Court Three.
Tulsa will now play its final home regular season match on Friday, April 1 against the Houston Cougars at 5:00 p.m. at the Case Center.
"Houston is the number one team in our conference. They are a very solid team. We just need to put our heads down and go to work."
Women's Tennis Match Results
Tulsa vs. Memphis
March 28, 2015 at Tulsa, Okla. (Michael D. Case Tennis Center)
Tulsa 4, Memphis 2
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1,2*,3)
1. Laskutova/Kuricova (TU) def. Wind/Hughes (MEM), 6-1
2. Cichon/Leenabanchong (TU) def. Morga/Tymchenko (MEM), 6-2
3. Dadireddy/Saarteinen (TU) def. Hibberd/McElroy (MEM), 6-3
Singles (Order of Finish: 6,5,2,1,3*)
1. #123 Anki Wind (MEM) def. Ksenia Laskutova (TU), 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. Liza Tymchenko (MEM) def. Rongrong Leenabanchong (TU), 7-5, 6-3
3. Marcelina Cichon (TU) def. Marta Morga (MEM), 6-2, 7-6
4. Yelena Nemchen (TU) vs. Kathryn Hughes (MEM), 6-3, 5-7, 4-2 (DNF)
5. Saana Saarteinen (TU) def. Alyssa Hibberd (MEM), 6-2, 6-1
6. Renata Kuricova (TU) def. Tara McElroy (MEM), 6-0, 6-1
For all Tulsa women's tennis news and information, visit www.TulsaHurricane.com. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane. Follow Tulsa Women's Tennis on Twitter (http://twitter.com/TulsaWTennis) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/TulsaWTennis).
