March 16, 2009

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Memphis women's tennis team picked up several key singles and doubles wins on Friday and Saturday against Cal State Northridge, 6-1, and Loyola Marymount, 4-3, but were unable to come away with the victories. The Lady Tigers have produced a mark of 8-10 so far this season. Cal State Northridge is 7-8 on the season. The Matadors were ranked as high as No. 68 last season. Loyola Marymount moves to 4-7 on the season.

To start off the match against Cal State Northridge, the Lady Tigers battled with the Matadors for control of the double's point. The Matadors came out the victor, winning the matches at the No. 2 and No. 3 spot. The competition at No. 3 doubles ended with a narrow defeat of Kristin Chamberlain and Dara Toulch by Whitney Paluch and Sandra Kukla, 9-7. Toulch and Chamberlain fell to 6-8 on the season.

At No. 2 doubles, Nina Jaworowski and Nigora Sirojiddinova upended Amanda Brown and Sarah Irvin, 8-1. Brown and Irvin's record moved to 3-2 following the loss.

At the No. 1 slot, Marjorie Ondeck and Ashley Murdock triumphed over Brooke Doane and Evgeniya Vertesheva, 8-5. The pair of junior Lady Tigers were 4-3 in doubles after the win.

In singles, Murdock, a junior from Memphis, Tenn., fell in a first set tiebreaker to Vertesheva, 7-6(4), before bouncing back to win the second set, 6-1. Vertesheva came away with the set and match win with a 7-5 decision in the third frame. Murdock's 2009 singles mark fell to 12-8.

At the No. 2 spot, Jaworowski defeated Ondeck, 6-4, 6-0. Ondeck, a junior from Monroe, Ct., boasted a singles record of 9-11 following the defeat.

At No. 3 singles, Doane defeated Irvin, a freshman from Queensland, Australia, 6-4, 6-3. The Lady Tiger newcomer fell to 9-10 in singles this season with the loss.

At the No. 4 slot, Paluch won 6-1, 6-3, over Brown, a junior from Whitby, Ontario. Brown's 2009 mark dropped to 5-12 with the loss.

At No. 5 singles, Toulch fell to Sirojiddinova, 6-2, 6-3. The junior from Montreal, Quebec, moved to 6-8 with the defeat.

Chamberlain, the Lady Tigers lone senior, was able to walk away from her match as a victor. The native of Memphis, Tenn., defeated Macias, 6-2, 7-5. Chamberlain improved her record to 3-5 on the season.

The Lady Tiger netters bounced back after a 6-1 defeat at Cal State Northridge for an impressive showing against Loyola Marymount on Saturday. Loyola Marymount was ranked as high as No. 72 last season.

In doubles play, the No.1 tandem of Ondeck and Murdock upended Jane Pringle and Bliss Nixon, 9-8. With the win, Ondeck and Murdock's 2009 doubles matk now stands at 5-3 on the season.

At the No. 2 doubles position, Jasmin Heckel and Elisaveta Pironkova defeated Irvin and Brown, 8-1. Irvin and Brown's doubles record fell to 3-3 with the loss.

At the No. 3 slot, Tina Razloznik and Shauna Morgan defeated Chamberlain and Toulch, 8-6. Chamberlain and Toulch moved to 6-9 with the loss.

In singles, the Lady Tigers made things interesting winning three singles matches, but ultimately fell one point short of the victory after going down in the match, 1-0, following two losses in the doubles portion of the competition.

At No. 5 singles, Chamberlain won her second match in two days, upending Estelle LaPorte, 6-2, 6-4. Chamberlain improved to 4-5 with the win.

The Lady Tigers also picked up a win at No. 1 singles. Murdock defeated Razloznik, 7-5, 6-1. The All-C-USA selection a season ago, improved her record to 13-8 with the win.

Brown also picked up a win for the U of M, upending Pringle, 6-3, 6-3. Brown improved her record to 6-12 with the win.

At No. 2 singles, Heckel defeated Ondeck, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. With the loss, Ondeck's record moved to 9-12.

At No. 4 singles, Pironkova won 6-2, 6-0, over Irvin. The Memphis netter's record moved to 9-11 with the loss.

At the No. 6 spot, Toulch won the first set, 6-4, before Nixon won two-straight, upending Toulch, 6-4, 7-6. Toulch's record dropped to 6-9 with the loss.

The Lady Tigers will next hit the court on Mar. 28 against conference foe Southern Miss.