Samford competes at Holiday Inn Astrodome Rice Classic
Day 1
HOUSTON, Texas --- The Samford University women’s tennis team turned in a successful opening day of competition at the 2008 Holiday Inn Astrodome Rice Classic on Friday as the Bulldogs’ Andrie Meiring, Rebecca Kirven, Stephanie Parkison and Jessica Diamond all picked up straight-set wins in singles play.
At the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium, Samford’s Meiring upended Rice’s Alex Rasch, 6-4, 6-4, in the opening round, while Kirven also breezed by Texas-San Antonio’s Caroline Dedering, 6-1, 6-1, in first-round action.
Also in singles play, the Bulldogs’ Parkison rallied for a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over Houston’s Neila Starratt and Diamond cruised past Sarah Acosta from SMU, 6-1, 6-2.
Day 2
HOUSTON, Texas --- The Samford University women’s tennis team ended the 2008 Holiday Inn Astrodome Rice Classic on a high note Sunday as six Bulldogs were victorious on the day and sophomore Rebecca Kirven won the championship title of the Flight 5 Singles Draw.
In the championship match of the Flight 5 Singles Draw, Samford’s Kirven outlasted North Texas’ Narine Kasarova, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3), at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. With her dramatic come-from-behind victory, Kirven finished the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record.
The Bulldogs’ Taylor Morgan and Lindsey Mallory both won their respective consolation bracket championships on Sunday.
Morgan outlasted Texas-San Antonio’s Karen Scida, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-0 (2), while Mallory breezed past LSU’s Lylie Adamek, 6-0, 6-4. Samford’s Jessica Diamond also picked up a consolation victory with a 6-1, 6-0 win against Texas State’s Jennifer Nowland.
In the Flight 6 Singles championship, the Bulldogs’ Stephanie Parkison fell short of the title in a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Rice’s Varsha Shiva-Shankar. Parkison later rebounded from her singles defeat to help knock off North Texas’ combination of Olga Catalina Cruz Gomez and Narine Kasarova in doubles play.
Parkison teamed with sophomore Andrie Meiring for the 8-5 victory.
The Samford University women’s tennis team will next be in action this Friday-Monday in Athens, Ga., as the Bulldogs begin play in the 2008 ITA Regional Championships to be held at the University of Georgia.
Furman competes at ITA Mideast Regional
Day 1
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? Three Furman men’s tennis players are competing at the ITA Mideast Regional, hosted by the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Seniors Andy Juc, Bo Ladyman and Daniel Knause opened competition in the main draw on Friday.
Juc opened play in the round of 128 with a win over Brandon Corace or Virginia Tech by scores of 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. In the round of 64, Juc fell to Sanam Singh of Virginia, 6-3, 7-6.
Furman’s Knause also opened the tournament with a win, defeating David
Chermak of NC State by scores of 6-7, 6-2, 6-1. In the round of 64, Knause fell to Nicolas Delgado of Virginia Tech, 6-3, 6-4.
With a 17th seed going into the tournament, Ladyman earned a first-round bye to automatically advance to the round of 64. On Saturday, he defeated Zach Watson of Duke in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, to move into the round of 32. Saturday afternoon, Ladyman continued his winning streak with a 7-6(3), 6-4 victory over Tobias Fanslow of Old Dominion.
Day 2
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? The Furman doubles team of Andy Juc and Bo Ladyman finished second in the ITA MidEast Regional Doubles Championship, hosted by the University of North Carolina.
Juc and Ladyman, both seniors, advanced to the finals after winning five straight doubles matches over the weekend.
On Friday, Juc and Ladyman defeated Matt Martin and Zach Sprouse of Presbyterian by a score of 8-6. They went on to top Sebastien Jacques and Yoann Re of Virginia Tech, 9-8 (6), before beating Drew Courtney and Lee Singer of Virginia 8-6.
On Saturday, Juc and Ladyman advanced to the semifinals with a win over Clay Donato and Taylor Fogleman of North Carolina due to injury. With a win over Jay Weinaker and Chris Welte of NC State, the Paladin tandem of Juc and Ladyman advanced to the finals of the championships, where they fell to Houston Barrick and Sanam Singh of Virginia, 8-6.
Elon competes at ITA Mideast Regional
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. ? Damon Gooch will advance to the semi-final round of the ITA Regional Qualifier after posting wins in four matches of the Regional Qualifier at the Cone Kenfield Indoor Tennis Facility in Chapel Hill, N.C. Gooch will take on the No. 1 seed Dominic Inglot of the University of Virginia, who is currently ranked 18th in the nation, Monday morning at 9 a.m. The winner and finalist of the Regional Qualifier will receive a bid to the National Indoor Championship in November.
On is his way to the semi-final round, Gooch defeated Alain Michael of Duke 7-5, 6-1 in the first round. He then retired Sabastian Jacques of Virginia Tech 6-0 in the second round. Gooch defeated Taylor Fogleman 7-6 (5) and 6-4 before defeating Chris Welte of NC State 6-3, 6-0 in the quarter-final round.
Also participating in the Regional Qualifier for the Phoenix was Oscar Podlewski who defeated Ike Belk of Clemson 6-4, 6-2 before falling to Virginia Tech’s Yoann Re 6-4, 6-1.
In doubles, the duo of Chase Helpingstine and Alberto Rojas won two rounds of qualifying to reach the Main Draw. The pair defeated Ernesto Ramos and German Perez of Coastal Carolina 9-8 (6) in the first round, before falling to William and Mary’s Ilja Orre and William Lang, 8-4.
Philip Nemec and Gooch took their first two rounds in doubles play. The pair downed George Mason’s Brian Fitgerald and Daniel Schneider 8-4 and Georgia Tech’s team of Guillermo Gomez and Kevin King 8-6. Nemec and Gooch lost to Virginia’s third-seeded pair of Inglot and Michael Shabez, 9-7.
Other Phoenix players participating in singles play of the Qualifying Draw were Helpingstine, Carlin Murray, and Nemec. Helpingstine and Nemec made it to the final qualifying round before falling.