Tennis: Mountaineers Struggle in Doubles Play
October 26, 2007 08:46 PM | General
By Steve Stone for MSNsportsNET.com
October 26, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women’s tennis team struggled in the opening round of the Southern Intercollegiate Championships at Columbia, S.C., on Friday, Oct. 26.
Rain throughout the day postponed singles play to Saturday, Oct. 27. WVU, however, was able to play their four morning doubles matches indoors, but lost each one.
In the toughest match of the day, Alexandra Kaluza and Gabriela Blaskovicova were defeated in a tiebreaker by Henry/Hodges of Western Carolina, 9-8 (2), in A-3 doubles.
Ashley Pilsbury and Monique Burton were also defeated, losing to Schutte/Hilali of Charleston Southern, 8-5, in B-2 doubles.
In A-1 doubles, Stacey Percival and Monica Lyskawa lost to Stupak/Kovacs of Armstrong Atlantic, 8-2.
In A-2 doubles, Natalia Prinz and Stephanie LaFortune continued the team’s slump by losing to South Carolina’s Mansour/Vuckovic, 8-2.
“It was just one of those situations where we learned what we did wrong,” says Head Coach Marc Walters. “We just had some tough draws today.”
All four doubles for WVU will continue play on Saturday in the consolation rounds. The first two rounds of each singles bracket are scheduled to be completed by the end of Saturday.
Because of the postponement, the times of every opening singles draw for WVU on Saturday have changed. The new times are as follows:
A-1: Stacey Percival vs. Anna Novo (South Carolina-Upstate) at 11 a.m.
A-1: Monica Lyskawa vs. Elizma Schoonees (Tennessee-Martin) at 11 a.m.
A-2: Natalia Prinz vs. Diana Martinez (South Carolina-Upstate) at 1:30 p.m.
B-2: Ashley Renee Pilsbury vs. Beata Knizat (Tennessee-Chattanooga) at 1:30 p.m.
B-3: Alexandra Kaluza vs. Martina Beckman (Armstrong) at 12:15 p.m.
B-4: Gabriela Blaskovicova vs. Lora Dushanova (Davidson) at 12:15 p.m.
C-1: Stephanie LaFortune vs. Jessica Fuller (Georgia Southern) at 11 a.m.
C-2: Monique Burton vs. Lauren Smith (Benedict) at 12:15 p.m.
C-2: Colleen Speaker vs. Mary Heaner (Western Carolina) at 1:30 p.m.
