Sept. 18, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

Complete Day One Singles Draws here.

Complete Day One Doubles Draws here.

Behind a 4-2 mark in singles, the University of Memphis women's tennis team opened its 2009-2010 season in style Friday despite heavy rains in the Memphis area for most of the day. The 2009 Memphis Collegiate Invitational had to be moved indoors to two different sites, The Racquet Club of Memphis and WellWorx Fitness Club, but the entire first day's draw got in.

"We had a great start to our season," Head Coach Lee Taylor Walker said. "By the end of the first day, everyone had gotten in to the rhythm and feel of their own games, and you never have that happen on the first day of competition of the season, so it was a really good day for us."

The Lady Tigers had a bit of a struggle in doubles, going 1-1 in the opening round. In Blue One Doubles, senior Ashley Murdock teamed with freshman Courtney Collins to help Collins to her first collegiate doubles victory, 8-3, over the tandem of Leatherwood and Stack from Belmont. But against C-USA foes from Tulsa (Row/Szatkowska), the Tiger duo could not capture the same result, falling 8-6 in the quarterfinal. The tandem will now face another league opponent by squaring off against the team of Kurdadze and Levy from Tulane on Saturday.

In Blue Two Doubles, the draw underwent a change in the morning, and the Memphis duo of senior Marjorie Ondeck and freshman Andrea Arques-Garcia received a first round bye, rather than an opening round match. The delay of the duo's day might have slowed them down as they battled, but fell 9-7 to the team of Parkinson/Lewis from Samford. They will now square off against Lance/Siegel from C-USA member Tulane Saturday.

The final doubles tandem of Canadians Amanda Brown and Dara Toulch started their season against C-USA opposition right away, falling to the Tulane tandem of Fonseca/Gerber, 8-5. The Memphis duo was unable to bounce right back, falling 8-2 to the UT Martin team of Winkelmann and Tiley and will now face the Belmont duo of Hogan and Holiday, Saturday.

But the Lady Tigers swung the momentum once the singles play got going. Ashley Murdock picked up the first Memphis singles win, 6-0, 6-1, over Belmont's Leatherwood, and Dara Toulch added another Tiger win over a Belmont foe, downing Belmont's Nunez, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Blue 3 Singles semifinals.

Freshman Courtney Collins added her first collegiate singles victory on the same afternoon as her first college doubles victory, downing Murray State's Cunitz, 0-6, 6-2, 10-6, in a come-from-behind victory.

Memphis then suffered a pair of losses, as senior Marjorie Ondeck probably had her fill of tiebreaks, falling 7-6 (9), 0-6, 10-8 after falling 9-7 in doubles. Ondeck's doubles teammate, freshman Andrea Arques-Garcia also lost her singles match, falling 6-1, 6-3 to Samford's E. Mallory.

Amanda Brown was on the court in the last match of the night, and the senior made sure to send her teammates home with some positive momentum to build on Saturday, winning her Blue 2 Singles match, 6-3, 6-3 over Samford's Lewis.

The tournament will continue Saturday morning. At 7 a.m., the decision will be made as to whether the match moves outside at MUS, of if it moves back indoors.

"We are really fortunate to have great indoor facilities like The Racquet Club and WellWorx available to us," Walker said. "It's not often you go to a tournament where it rains the entire first day and you still get the entire first day's worth of draw in. Thanks again to both the staffs at those sites."