April 16, 2000

Tampa, Fla.-- - It all came down to a tie breaker for the University of Memphis women's tennis team (10-11). The Lady Tigers finished their season with a 5-4 loss to No. 4 seed DePaul in the fifth-place match at the Conference USA Championships, Sunday.

The Lady Tigers, the No. 9 seed in the tournament, came out of singles play tied 3-3 with the Blue Demons. Junior Christina Ladyman (Perth, West Australia), likely playing her final season as a Lady Tiger due to early admission to physical therapy school, won her opening set at No. 1 singles, 6-0 before her DePaul opponent battled back in the second. Ladyman held off the charge, winning the second set 7-5 and finishing with a 15-7 mark in singles play this season.

A pair of freshmen rounded out the singles wins for the Lady Tigers. Sumitra Rao (Madras, India) took the second set of her No. 4 match, 7-6, to earn her 15th singles win of the season. Angie Wilkinson (Wellington, New Zealand) also won her No. 6 second set 7-6 to tie the competition at three wins apiece.

In the doubles, the No. 3 Lady Tiger duo of Claire O'Donoghue and Annika Westberg won 8-4 to keep the competition knotted at four apiece after the No. 2 duo of Betsy Card and Wilkinson lost 8-4.

The entire match hinged on the No. 1 doubles competition. The DePaul duo of Laura Taylor and Charlotta Aronsson held off the Memphis team of Ladyman and Sabrina Lindemann in a tie break to win 9-8 and give DePaul the 5-4 victory.

DePaul 5, MEMPHIS 4

SINGLES No. 1 Christina Ladyman (UM, 15-7) def. Barbara Fuzesi, 6-0, 7-5

No. 2 Laura Taylor def. Sabrina Lindemann (UM, 12-11), 6-4, 6-2

No. 3 Szilvia Kelemen def. Betsy Card (UM, 10-14), 6-3, 6-4

No. 4 Sumitra Rao (UM, 16-7) def. Charlotta Aronsson, 6-2, 7-6

No. 5 Kadi Hilpus def. Claire O'Donoghue (UM, 6-15), 6-1, 6-3

No. 6 Angie Wilkinson (UM, 8-13) def. Stewart, 6-2, 7-6

DOUBLES

No. 1 Taylor/Aronsson def. Ladyman/Lindemann (UM, 7-7), 9-8

No. 2 Fuzesi/Kelemen def. Card/Wilkinson (UM, 8-4)

No. 3 O'Donoghue/Westberg (UM, 14-8) def. Hilpus/Reinhart, 8-4

C-USA Championship Results

Championship Match - South Florida 5, UAB 2

Third Place - Tulane 5, Marquette 2

Fifth Place - DePaul 5, MEMPHIS 4

Seventh Place - Houston 5, Southern Miss 4

Ninth Place - Louisville 5, Cincinnati 3

Eleventh Place - UNCC 5, Saint Louis 4