The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Middle Tennessee Fall Classic
UAB's Seden Soyalp Wins Flight "E" At Middle Tennessee
10/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 9, 2004
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. ----- UAB's Seden Soyalp took the title in flight "E" of the 2004 Middle Tennessee Women's Fall Invitational here on Saturday with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Morehead State's Leah Lobnitz. The match was moved up to this afternoon due to Morehead State's travel arrangements.
Soyalp advanced in flight "E" by blanking Western Kentucky's Holly Kell, 6-0, 6-0, earlier in the day.
Additionally, three more Blazers advanced to the final round which will be played on Sunday. Samrin Tanzeem, Antonia Nugent and Gulsah Esen all won their matches here on Saturday.
"This has been a very good weekend for us, so far," said UAB head coach Mert Ertunga. "I'm really proud of Seden (Soyalp) getting the first single championship of the fall for us. Also, having four of our five players into the finals is wonderful. This is really positive after last week's disappointing performance."
Esen will play in the finals of flight "B" after defeating Mississippi's Carlin Cochran, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Esen will compete against Katrina Domela of Tennessee-Martin.
Tanzeem moved on to the finals in flight "C" with a three-game win over Katie Rhodes of Belmont. After losing the first game, 6-3, Tanzeem took the next two games, 7-5, 10-2. She will face Claire Conerly of Ole Miss in the finals.
In flight "D", Nugent was a 6-1, 6-2, winner over Casey Hall of Lipscomb and will face Middle Tennessee's Jacqui Williams on Sunday.
The Blazers did have three players who were knocked out of the tournament. In the consolation round of flight "A", Annemieke Elsholz beat Ieva Balcus of Western Kentucky, 6-3, 6-2, but then fell to Ball State's Jenny Batty, 6-0, 6-0. Also in flight "A", von Samson was defeated by Middle Tennessee's Ana Maria Cibils, 6-1, 6-1.
In flight "B", Ornischa Maier-Knapp was beaten, 7-6 (5), 7-5, by Domela in the quarterfinals. Jana Wild lost to Christina Wieser of Memphis, 3-6, 7-5, 10-2, in the consolation round of flight "C".
In doubles, all four of UAB's teams were eliminated, including von Samson and Esen who were beaten by Memphis' Marlene Dirnstorfer and Brooke Cowie, 8-6, in the quarterfinals.
The finals will be held at the Buck Bouldin Tennis Center on Sunday.
