The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Tulane
First-Round Loss Eliminates Blazers From C-USA Championship
4/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 22, 2010
TULSA, Okla. -- The UAB women's tennis team suffered a 4-0 loss to Tulane on Thursday as the Blazers were eliminated in the first round of the Conference USA Championship at Case Tennis Center.
UAB, which was seeded 11th in the tournament, finishes its season with a record of 10-11. Sixth-seeded Tulane improves to 13-8 for the spring and advances to meet third-seeded Rice in Friday's quarterfinal round.
The Green Wave won at the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles positions Thursday to claim the opening point and then won the first three singles matches off the court.
Straight-set win's by Mariam Kurdadze (No.1) and Emma Levy (No. 2) put Tulane on the brink of victory, and Hila Elster's victory at No. 6 sealed the win for the Green Wave.
UAB was having success in the other three positions when the team match was decided. Giorgia Romeo led Tulane's Elizabeth Hamlin 6-4, 3-1 at No. 3, and Jenny Cape held a 6-5, first-set advantage over Lindsay Dvorak at No. 4 when play was stopped. UAB's Richole Berger was also in the middle of a close second set at No. 5.
"The final score doesn't really indicate how close we would've ended up if we had played every match all the way out," UAB head coach Krissy Hall said. "Our season didn't end the way we wanted it to, but we played closer matches with Tulane today than we did a month ago, so it was good to see some improvement as a team."
The Blazers played Thursday's match without the services of both Menanteau Moolman and Brittany DeFelice, who sat out because of injury and illness. Both players have filled spots in the middle of the singles lineup this year.
