Oct. 3, 2011

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Three women's tennis players represented the Tigers this weekend at the UTC Steve Baras Fall Classic. Newcomers Alyssa Hibberd and Tiffany Welcher along with junior Andrea Arques-Garcia brought home doubles titles in their respective flights while also competing in singles.

"Overall, I thought our girls did really well," said Memphis assistant Coach Taylor Taylor, who accompanied the players to UT Chattanooga while head coach Lee Taylor Walker is at the All-American Championships with the rest of the squad. "This event was especially great for our two newcomers, who got to experience a big tournament with a lot of players. We've really been focusing on doubles in practice so for both teams to win their flights was great. We're just trying to get used to different styles of players so we can learn to adapt when we need to."

Welcher and Hibberd teamed up to take the Blue doubles title. After a quarterfinal bye, the pair defeated UT Chattanooga's Alexa Flynn and Shaina Singh, 8-3, to reach the finals. In the Championship match, the Memphis duo took on Alek Apostu and Vera Shkundia from Kennesaw State and won, 8-6.

Arques-Garcia also brought home a doubles title, pairing up with Lee University's Jodie Rice. The team also had a quarterfinal bye in the White doubles flight before defeating Aleksandra Cmiljic (Jacksonville State) and May Maffey (Xavier), 8-4. The pair then clinched the Championship with an 8-3 win over Lee University's Christy North and Emily Orist.

All three players competed in singles with Alyssa Hibberd advancing to the Championship match of the Blue flight before falling to third-seeded Vera Shkundia (Kennesaw State), 6-4, 6-4. Hibberd upset second-seeded Naella Wawrinka (Stetson), 6-0, 6-4, in the semifinals to reach the final round. Welcher also lost to Shkundia, a 4-6, 2-6, setback in the semifinals of the Blue flight, after scoring a straight-set victory over UT Chattanooga's Alexa Flynn to advance. Arques-Garcia posted two singles victories to reach the semifinals of the Sliver flight but eventually fell to fourth-seeded MayaBlue Stauffer-MacDowell (Stetson).