Memphis Falls to Tulane In Regular Season Finale

Tuesday, April 14

New Orleans, La.

9:00 AM

University of Memphis

Tulane

Amanda Brown picked up a singles victory this afternoon in New Orleans

Apr 14, 2009 | Women's Tennis

April 14, 2009

NEW ORLEANS, La. -

Results

The Memphis women's tennis team fought hard on Tuesday afternoon against their opponents from Tulane University, but were unable to come away with the victory, falling 6-1. Despite the final result, the Lady Tigers took three singles matches to deciding third sets . Memphis finishes up the regular season with a record of 10 wins and 12 losses, while posting a mark of 2-3 in conference matches. Tulane heads into the conference tournament with a record of 12 wins and 11 losses in their first year back playing collegiate tennis.

"I think Terri (Sisk) has a great team," said Memphis head coach Lee Taylor Walker. "We knew it was going to be a battle. On our way down here, we were talking in the van that this might go 4-3. It didn't - it wound up being 6-1 - but it still had the feeling of a 4-3 match with so many three-setters. I felt confident going into conference. Obviously, you'd like to get some wins, but our focus was to get our girls match tough today."

Tulane got out to the early lead, taking the doubles point from the Lady Tiger netters by winning two-of-three matches. The Tigers were able to come away victorious at the No. 1 spot, with Marjorie Ondeck and Ashley Murdock upending Elizabeth Hamlin and Anna Bartenstein, 8-2. Ondeck and Murdock finish the regular season with a record of 10-4.

At the No. 2 slot, the Green Wave's Mariam Kurdadze and Lindsay Dvorak defeated Lindsey Wiseman and Amanda Brown in a close match, 9-7. Wiseman and Brown finish the regular season having won six matches and losing four.

In No. 3 doubles, Tulane's Marcela Fonseca and Jessica Lange defeated Kristin Chamberlain and Sarah Irvin, 8-2.

"That really hurt (losing the doubles point)," Walker said. "In a lot of these matches, we were right there. A lot of it is coaching too, having to teach people how to close out and that really creates momentum."

In singles, Memphis' Brown was the lone victor for the Lady Tiger netters despite fights put up at the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 6 positions. Brown's win over Dvorak brings the junior from Whitby, Ontario's mark to 7-15.

At the No. 1 position, Murdock, a junior from Memphis, Tenn., fell behind Tulane's Bartenstein, losing 6-1 in the first set. The Memphis netter bounced back claiming a second set victory, 6-4, before Bartenstein staved off Murdock with a 6-3 win in the third set. Murdock falls to 15-9 on the 2009 regular season.

At No. 4 singles, Chamberlain, the Lady Tiger's lone senior, lost the first set, 7-6, in a tiebreaker, but was able to come back in the second set, winning 6-3. Unfortunately, Tulane's Gerber was able to run away with the third set, 6-0. Chamberlain finishes her final regular season with the U of M carrying a mark of 4-8.

At the No. 6 spot, Wiseman, a sophomore from Memphis, Tenn., was seeking her seventh win of the season, but fell short, losing to Hamlin in three sets, 6-7, 6-0, 7-5.

At No. 2 singles, Tulane's Kurdadze defeated Ondeck, 6-1, 6-1. Ondeck is currently 11-13.

At the No. 5 spot, Irvin, a freshman from Queensland, Australia, fell at the hands of Fonseca, 6-3, 6-4. With the loss, Irvin falls to 8-14.

Tuesday's match marked the first time that Tulane and Memphis had played since April 16, 1999. Tulane took a hiatus from women's tennis from 2005-2009.

"This is the beginning of what is going to be a good rivalry," Walker said. "Coach (Terri) Sisk has already put together a great team in her first year here, and she's going to have a great team year in and year out. I'm pumped to get to play them again every year and I can foresee us having a lot of great battles like we had here today."

Memphis will now head to the Conference USA Tournament at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. The Lady Tigers' first match will pit them against the UTEP Miners, who they have yet to see this season. UTEP comes into the conference tournament with a record of 15-6. If the U of M is victorious they will match-up once again with the SMU Mustangs in the second round of the tourney. SMU comes in as the No. 1 seed. Memphis fell to SMU, 7-0, on Feb. 13.