March 13, 2010

TUCSON, Ariz. - The University of Memphis women's tennis team fell to the 59th-ranked Arizona Wildcats, 6-1, on Friday in Tucson, Ariz. With the loss, the Lady Tigers fall to 7-12 on the season.

The Wildcats began the match by winning the doubles point over the Tigers. At No. 1 doubles, the Arizona pair of Natasha Marks and Alexandrina Naydenova upended Marjorie Ondeck and Ashley Murdock, 8-1. With the loss, Ondeck and Murdock's doubles record now stands at 6-10.

At the No. 2 spot, Amanda Brown and Andrea Arques-Garcia lost 8-3 to Natalia Toporowska and Claire Rietsch. Brown and Arques-Garcia are 2-7 in doubles on the year.

At No. 3 doubles, Kelly Gray and Courtney Collins forced a tiebreaker with Ariana Masschelein and Sarah Landsman, but the Arizona pair won the tiebreaker to take the match, 8-7(4).

In singles, Murdock, a senior from Memphis, Tenn., forced three sets against Marks, the 89th-rated singles netter in the country. Murdock won the first set 6-2, but Marks bounced back to win the final two sets over Murdock, 6-0, 6-1. With the loss, Murdock's singles record now stands at 10-9.

At the No. 2 singles spot, Collins, a freshman from Fulton, Miss., also forced three sets with her opponent. The Memphis netter lost the first set to Landsman, rated No. 106 in the nation, but came back to split sets with Landsman, winning the second set, 6-2. Landsman took the third set in order to take the match, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2. Collins is 8-8 in singles on the year.

At No. 3 singles, Ondeck picked up the win by default over Naydenova. With the win, Ondeck improves to 7-9 in singles in her senior season.

Arizona's Masschelein defeated Brown, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 4 singles. Brown is 5-10 on the year.

At the No. 5 spot, Arques-Garcia fell to Rietsch, 6-2, 6-2. The Memphis netter is 4-10 in her first season of collegiate tennis.

At No. 6 singles, Gray, a freshman from Murfreesboro, Tenn., won the first set against Toporowska, 6-2, but fell in the final two sets, 6-0, 6-1, to lose the match. Gray's singles mark now stands at 4-13.

The Lady Tigers will return to the court on Fri., March 19, when they face UT Martin at the Racquet Club of Memphis at 2 p.m.