Source: UA Women's Communications
Date Published: 10/10/2005 7:57:22 AM
Last Modified: 10/10/2005 7:57:22 AM
PermaLink: http://haw.gs/n15970

New York, N.Y. – Constant wind and rain could not shut out the University of Arkansas women’s tennis team on day one at the USTA Collegiate Classic in New York, N.Y. on Saturday as doubles teams’ freshmen Aurelija Miseviciute and Ela Kaluder, senior Karina Ledaja and sophomore Maryori Franco advanced to the flight A finals.

Due to the weather and limited indoor facilities at Flushing Meadows, the tournament officials decided to compile all doubles matches into Saturday and the action was moved to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and Columbia University indoor facilities.

In the A flight doubles at Columbia, freshmen pair Aurelija Miseviciute and Ela Kaluder won, 8-3 in round one over Brown’s Kelly Kirkpatrick and Ashley Parisner. The Lady Razorback duo jumped out to a seven-game lead, but surrendered two games near the end to give the match its final score.

Also in opening round play, senior Karina Ledaja and sophomore Maryori Franco faced off against Boston College’s Szilvia Szegedi and Alena Sullivan.

A back and forth battle ensued, tying the game at four, five and seven. The Lady’Backs went up 8-7, but could not pull down game sixteen as Boston College forced a tiebreaker. In the tiebreak, Arkansas jumped out early and never looked back, cruising to a 7-2 win.

In round two, Kaluder and Miseviciute defeated Princeton’s Johanna Roth and Jessica Siebel, 8-3, in a match that took less than 35 minutes.

Also in the round of eight Ledaja and Franco defeated Milena Kachar and Nina Suda of Columbia on their home court, 8-5.

With both teams reaching their respective semifinal match, if both pairs won they would face each other in the finals. Kaluder and Miseviciute had no trouble in that endeavor. In fact, the duo won the first Southeastern Conference match of their careers, defeating South Carolina’s Gira Schonfeld and Natasa Vukchova, 8-2.

Franco and Ledaja’s match was nearly as tense as their first match, as Yale’s Christina Cutter and Aimee Kim jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Ledaja and Franco came back to tie the score, but Yale went on another run to go ahead, 4-3. The Lady’Backs broke Cutter’s serve to go up 5-4, and never looked back as they went on to win the match, 8-6.

“Both pairs in the doubles A flight showed excellent focus in the difficult conditions today,” said head coach Michael Hegarty. “We’re making definite progress on the doubles court, which bodes well for upcoming events.”

The two Lady Razorback teams agreed to play Friday, Oct. 14 to determine the outright winner of the flight.

In B Flight doubles at West Point, senior Melissa Cornett and freshman Rachel Wilhelm made it all the way to the semifinals after defeating two Ivy League schools. In round one, the Lady’Back pair edged Harvard’s Cindy Chu and Lyly Cao Minh, 8-5. In the second round, Cornett and Wilhelm downed Yale’s Catherine Starr and Lilian Nguyen, 8-1. It took Big 12 opponent Texas A&M to bring down the Lady’Back team in the semifinals as Marisa Druss and Seva Iwinski won in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7).

Senior Vlatka Jovanovic and sophomore Audrey Bordeleau netted one win over Yale’s Christine Alford and Ashley Miles, 8-1. Jovanovic and Bordeleau lost in the second round to Clemson’s Maru Britto and Carol Saige, 8-2.

Singles action begins tomorrow morning at Flushing Meadows, weather permitting. If the rain should continue Arkansas singles will spread out over five campus sights across New York City.

Related Articles

Strode falls at US Open (8/27)

Robert Cox Honored by Tyler Junior College (6/20)

Freshman Strode Claims South Carolina Invitational Title (10/18)

Hogs Continue Strong Play at South Carolina Fall Invitational (10/16)

Lady'back Netters to weekend tournament in Queens (10/7)