March 11, 2009

SAN LUIS OBISPO, California - The Memphis women's tennis team dropped their opening match of their Spring Break road trip in California to No. 75 Cal Poly on Wednesday in San Luis Obispo. Memphis falls to 8-8 on the season with the loss. The Tigers are still of to one of their best starts in recent history. Cal Poly improved to 7-4 with the win.

To open the day's play Cal Poly swept the doubles matches taking the point from the Lady Tigers. At No. 1 doubles, the tandem of Brittany Blalock and Steffi Wong defeated Ashley Murdock and Marjorie Ondeck, 8-4. With the win, Blalock and Wong improve to 8-6 on the season. Murdock and Ondeck move to 4-4 on the season.

At No. 2 doubles, the pair of Amy Markoff and Susie Matzenauer, the 75th-rated singles player in the nation, defeated Amanda Brown and Sarah Irvin, 8-1. Brown and Irvin are 3-1 in doubles play thie season.

At the No. 3 spot, Cal Poly's Shannon Brady and Maria Malec upended Kristin Chamberlain and Dara Toulch, 8-4. Chamberlain and Toulch's 2009 doubles record falls to 6-7.

In singles, 78th-ranked Blalock defeated Murdock, 6-1, 6-0. Blalock improved to 12-2 in singles this season. Murdock, a junior from Memphis, Tenn., who was an All-C-USA selection a season ago, falls to 12-7 in her second season in the Blue and Gray.

At the No. 2 position, Matzenauer defeated Ondeck, 6-0, 6-1. Ondeck, a junior from Monroe, Ct., falls to 9-10 on the year.

At No. 3 singles, Whitney Peterson picked up the win over Irvin, a freshman from Queensland, Australia. Irvin has produced a record of 9-9 in her first season at the U of M.

In the competition for No. 4 singles, Diane Filip defeated Brown, 6-4, 6-0. Brown, a junior from Whitby, Ontario, is 5-11 on the season.

At No. 5 singles, Wong upended Toulch, 6-2, 6-4. Toulch has put up a record of 6-7 on the year.

At the No. 6 slot, Jocelyn Davis defeated Chamberlain, 6-1, 6-3.

Memphis will face-off with Cal-State Northridge on Fri., March 13.