Sept. 28, 2002

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Led by seniors Sabrina Lindemann (Linz, Austria) and Sumitra Rao (Madras, India), three Lady Tigers remain perfect at 6-0 on the season after sweeping their singles matches in the final round of the Saluki Invitational, Saturday.

Lindemann, who went 2-0 Friday to put herself in position to win the No. 1 singles bracket, downed host SIU's Alejandra Blanco, 7-5, 6-2 to capture her second straight fall singles title. Rao also captured her second consecutive title with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jessica Knitter from SIU, Saturday.

Newcomer Marlene Dirnstorfer is the only other Lady Tiger to remain perfect through two tournaments this season after she defeated SIU's Kari Stark at No. 5 singles, 6-1, 6-1.

Memphis won two of the three doubles matches against Southern Illinois. The duo of Lindemann and Monica Gonzalez-Gordo (Barcelona, Spain) rebounded from their loss in their last tournament with an 8-1 win over the team of Blanco and Blanco at No. 1. The No. 2 duo of Rao and Dirnstorfer also won their doubles match easily, 8-2, over Knitter and Palovic.

The Lady Tigers will edge up the level of competition in their next tournament when they travel to Murfreesboro to play in the Middle Tennessee State tournament, Oct. 11-13.

Women's Tennis
Memphis vs. Southern Illinois-Carbondale
No. 1 - Sabrina Lindemann (UM) def. Alejandra Blanco (SIU), 7-5, 6-2
No. 2 - Monica Gonzalez-Gordo (UM) def. Maria Blanco (SIU), 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 - Sumitra Rao (UM) def. Jessica Knitter (SIU), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 - Viktoria Gruber (UM) def. Zuzana Palovic (SIU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 5 - Marlene Dirnstorfer (UM) def. Kari Stark (SIU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 - Andrea Feichtinger (UM) def. Yasmine Farag (SIU), 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
No. 1 - No. 31 Lindemann/Gonzalez-Gordo (UM) def. Blanco/Blanco (SIU), 8-1
No. 2 - Rao/Dirnstorfer (UM) def. Knitter/Palovic (SIU), 8-2
No. 3 - Stark/Zoya Honarmand (SIU) def. Kristen Noble/Rebecca Garner (UM), 8-5