Murray State University Athletics
Pruitt wins flight at Hoosier Classic
10/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Murray State women's tennis team competed at the Hoosier Classic Invitational this weekend, and freshman Casady Pruitt came home with the big prize, winning her flight over players from Kansas State, Indiana and Louisville.
Pruitt opened the flighted tournament by beating Judith Diaz of Kansas State 7-6, 2-6 (10-6 in the tie-breaking game), then got past Cecile Perton of Indiana 7-5, 0-6 (10-7 in the tie-breaker) before sweeping Louisville's Christina Gogal 6-4, 6-2 to win the Singles Flight E title.
Freshman Anna Lask went 2-1 in Flight B, beating Iowa's Jennifer Hodgeman 6-1, 6-2 before falling to Eastern Michigan's Prapaiphan Kansuthi 6-2, 4-6 (10-6 in the tie-breaker), but came back to beat EMU's Amalia Lincaru 6-3, 6-2 to take third place in her flight.
Sophomore Tami McQueen went 1-1 in the round-robin flight, beating Kansas State's Aveen Alkhatib 6-4, 6-1 after falling to Louisville's Natalie Laszkowski 6-1, 6-1.
Freshman Rachel Lask beat EMU's Kendra Clark 6-2, 6-3 in Flight C, but fell to Indiana's Laura McGaffigan 6-2, 7-5, and Paulina Castillejas of Kansas State 6-3, 6-1 to take fourth place in her flight.
Freshman Christina Hall lost in her first-round match to Louisville's Paige Eber, 6-1, 6-3, but beat Louisville's MacKenzie Mekus 6-2, 6-2 before falling to Indiana's Kara Zeder 6-2, 6-1 to go 1-2 in the round-robin flight.
Junior Jaclyn Leeper lost her first-round match to EMU's Linaru 6-3, 4-6 (10-6 in the tie-breaker) and fell to Missouri's Hana Kraftnova 6-3, 5-7 (10-4 in the tie-breaker), but rebounded to beat Iowa's Hodgeman 6-3, 6-2 in Flight B.
Senior Melissa Spencer fell to Indiana's Dora Vastag 6-4, 6-1, before falling to Kansas State's Jessica Simosa 6-4, 5-7 (10-4 in the tie-breaker) and Missouri's Katka Sevcikova 4-6, 6-3 (10-6 in the tie-breaker) in Flight A.
Junior Jennifer Ward fell to Missouri's Yelena Olshanskaya 6-4, 6-4, before falling to Louisville's Julia Hierl 6-0, 7-5 and Indiana's Martina Grimm 6-2, 6-0 in Flight D.
Pruitt and Ward finished in third in Doubles Flight 2, beating EMU's Marijana Adzic and Jessica Loose 8-2 in the eight-game pro set, but falling to Indiana's Perton and Zeder 8-3 before winning the third-place match against Missouri's Kelly Crull and Lucie Ruskova by default.
In doubles play, the Lask sisters went 2-2 in Flight 1, falling to Louisiana State's Marina Chiarelli and Amanda Mang 9-8 before beating EMU's Clark and Victoria Domina 9-8 and Iowa's Hodgeman and Gloria Okino 8-6. The Lasks dropped a tough match to Indiana's McGaffigan and Vastag 8-6 to finish in sixth in their flight.
Leeper and Spencer played in Flight 1, falling to Hillary Mintz and Hilary Tyler 8-5 before beating Indiana's Sarah Batty and Martina Grimm by default. The Murray pair then fell to Indiana's McGaffigan and Vastag 8-6 before falling to Iowa's Hodgeman and Okino 8-6.
Hall and McQueen competed in Flight 2, falling to Louisiana State's Daysi Espinal and Bonnie White 8-1 before losing to Louisville's Hierl and Mekus 8-6. The pair then fell to Kansas State's Alkhatib and Diaz 8-6 before falling to EMU's Adzic and Loose 8-6.
"The competition at this tournament was quite a bit greater than our last tournament," said MSU head coach Connie Keasling. "We had some problems in the tie-breakers in this tournament, but to stay so close to such stiff competition was a positive for us."
Murray State next competes on Oct. 17-19 at the Memphis/Varsity Pro Shop Invitational.
