Tennis: WVU Continues Surge
September 08, 2007 06:59 PM | General
September 8, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University women’s tennis team continued their surge on the second day of the Martha Thorn Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Mountaineer Tennis Complex.
Although WVU found a formidable opponent in Akron, several members of the squad continued to play well in their quest to compete in the championship games for their respective brackets.
The Mountaineers once again dominated in doubles play as the No. 1 tandem of Monica Lyskawa and Stacey Percival defeated Carpenter-Kay of Akron, 8-6, in Flight ‘A.’ They will play Akron’s Sherlock-Gambera tomorrow for the ‘A’ doubles championship.
WVU and Akron will also square off in the Flight ‘B’ doubles championship tomorrow. Stephanie LaFortune and Alexandra Kaluza teamed at the No. 3 spot to defeat Carlson-Benjamin of Akron, 8-2. They will take on Akron’s No. 3 tandem of Hemlepp-Langworthy in the finals.
In Flight ‘A’ singles, Lyskawa received some stiff competition as she was defeated by Akron’s Carolina Castro Cota, 7-5, 7-5, in the quarterfinals. Percival continued her stellar play by defeating Alexandra Rydberg of Morehead State, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Percival then beat Akron’s Tanyaradzwa Gombera, 6-0, 6-2, to advance to the championship match.
An all-WVU final takes place in Flight ‘B’ as Kaluza will take on Gabriela Blaskovicova tomorrow. Kaluza beat Jeremie Benjamin of Akron, 6-0, 6-0, and then defeated teammate LaFortune, 6-2, 6-4. Blaskovicova defeated Alyssa Carlson of Akron, 6-0, 6-1, followed by a three-set victory over Morehead State’s Megan Rozboril, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
Akron’s Lindsey Berry defeated Colleen Speaker in Flight ‘C,’ 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Freshman Ashley Renee Pilsbury will represent WVU in the Flight ‘C’ finals after defeating Meredith Lortie of Morehead State, 7-5, 6-0, in the quarterfinals, followed by a 7-5, 6-0, victory over Berry in the semifinals. Head Coach Marc Walters believed her performance was among the best of the day.
“Ashley has gotten her feet wet and really played well,” said Walters. “Tomorrow she will have some tough competition but she’s performed well so far.”
Two doubles championships will take place tomorrow at 9 a.m., followed by three singles finals that start at 11 a.m.
