Oct. 18, 2002

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

The University of Memphis women's tennis team continued their strong fall showing by send Tigers through to five of the seven singles finals set for Saturday in The U of M/Varsity Pro Shop Invitational. The Tigers will play for the No. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 championship singles titles, and will also be playing for the No. 6 consolation singles championship.

A pair of Lady Tigers will again face off in a tournament final. Senior Sumitra Rao (Madras, India) and sophomore Viktoria Gruber (Vienna, Austria) will again face each other for the No. 3 singles title after squaring off in the season-opening tournament at Saint Louis. Rao won that meeting 6-4, 6-3. Rao won her opening match over Anmgelique DuPlessis from UT-Martin, 6-1, 6-0, and used a 6-4, 7-5 win over Leisa Brooks from Ball State to advance to her third finals appearance this fall. Gruber won her opening match 6-3, 6-4 over SIU-Carbondale's Jessica Knitter and battled back from a 6-3 first set loss to Murray State's Jennifer Ward to win the second and third sets, 6-3, 6-3. Rao is now 11-1 on the season, while Gruber is 8-2.

Senior Sabrina Lindemann (Linz, Austria) is making her second No. 1 singles championship appearance after winning the A Singles title at Saint Louis. Lindemann, who had a first-round bye, downed Melisa Lemus from SLU, 6-1, 6-1, to earn a finals berth against Ball State's Melissa Roach. Lindemann is now 8-1 in singles on the season.

Senior Monica Gonzalez-Gordo (Barcelona, Spain) is making her second tournament finals appearance after defeating Gayatri Remesh from UT-Martin, 6-4, 6-1. Gonzalez-Gordo, who sports a 6-2 singles record in the fall, will face Tennessee Tech's Marina Tasheva in the No. 2 singles final.

Freshman Andrea Feichtinger (Pinsdorf, Austria) will square off with Murray State's Annette Steen in the finals of the No. 5 singles bracket. Feichtinger downed Saint Louis' Erin Kersten, 6-1, 7-6 (4) to improve to 9-2 in the fall. In Feichtinger's one other finals appearance, she was defeated by teammate Marlene Dirnstorfer at SLU. Dirnstorfer, who was slated to play in the No. 4 singles bracket, was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury.

Memphis-area product Kristin Noble (Germantown, Tenn./Houston) won her first collegiate match at home, downing Saint Louis' Lindsay Winninger, 7-6, 7-6. Noble then held on to defeated Sophie Bedard from SIU-Carbondale, 6-3, 6-3 to advance to her second singles final of the season. Noble won the D Singles Consolation title at Saint Louis to begin the season and has improved her singles record to 8-2 this fall. Teammate Rebecca Garner (Billericay, England) will also battle for a singles championship. Garner lost her opening match to Ball State's Susan Kelley, 6-0, 6-3, but rallied back to defeat Murray State's Tami McQueen, 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the consolation final.

A pair of Ball State teammates will battle each other for the No. 7 singles title. Alyce Zollman and Kara Sullivan will square off in the Saturday final, while Murray State's Jennifer Lilles and Saint Louis' Rebecca Steer will fight for the No. 7 consolation singles title.