Murray State University Athletics
Pruitt/Ward Wins Doubles Title At UTC
9/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Murray State women's tennis team fared well at the UTC Steve Baras Memorial Fall Classic this weekend, with junior Jennifer Ward and freshman Casady Pruitt winning the "B" doubles championship, going 5-0 in the flighted tournament.
Pruitt and Ward defeated Whitney Collins and Karina Soares of Jacksonville State 8-0 in the eight-game pro set before beating Rebecca Mitchell and Simona Solyta of Georgia State 8-4 and Ginger Mariott and Jamie Wooten of Tennessee-Chattanooga 8-2. The MSU pair beat Marilyn Clark and Lindsay Morris of UNC Charlotte 8-4 in the semifinals, then clinched the title with an 8-5 win over Nadie Dellarciprete and Julia von Samson of Alabama-Birmingham.
Freshman Rachel Lask advanced to the finals of the Flight B consolation singles bracket, falling to Michelle Dushner of Jacksonville State 3-6, 7-6 (11-9 in the tie-breaking game) before beating Lauren Snipes of UTC 4-6, 6-1 (10-5 in the tie-breaking game), Marritt Jansma of UAB 6-4, 3-6 (10-2 in the tie-breaking game) and Eunice Paravicini of Toledo 6-2, 6-4. Lask fell in the final round to Ashleigh Murray of UNCC 6-3, 6-1.
Lask and her sister, Anna, advanced to the semifinals of the Flight A doubles bracket, going 3-1, beating Julie McDonald and Elizabeth McFarlin of Lipscomb 8-2, Ofra Friedman and Kathy Robey of UNCC 8-4 and Anne Breiholtz and Annamarie Forgacs of Georgia State 8-2 before falling in the semis to Myriam Cueva and Paravicini of Toledo 8-1.
The entire Racer squad went 24-12 at the invitational, winning 66.7 percent of its matches.
Senior Melissa Spencer went 1-1 in Flight A singles, beating Layla Abby of Jacksonville State 6-0, 6-0 before falling to Medina Bayrambasic of Coastal Carolina 5-7, 7-6 (10-5 in the tie-breaking game).
Junior Jaclyn Leeper went 2-1 in Flight A singles, beating Robin Gorman of Jacksonville State 6-1, 6-0 and Marlene Dirnstorfer of Memphis 6-2, 6-2 before falling to Ania Dolinska of Georgia State 6-3, 6-2.
Ward went 1-1 in Flight B singles, beating Erin Higgs of Jacksonville State 6-1, 6-1 before falling to Marie Martka of Coastal Carolina 4-6, 6-3 (10-5 in the tie-breaking game).
Sophomore Tami McQueen went 2-1 in Flight C singles, beating Megan Whalen of Belmont 6-0, 6-1 and Becky Garner of Memphis 6-1, 6-4 before falling to UAB's Dellarciprete 6-3, 6-3.
Freshman Christina Hall went 2-1 in Flight C singles, beating Betsy Hoffman of Toledo 6-1, 6-0 and Maja Russinova of Tennessee Tech 6-0, 6-4 before falling to UNCC's Robey 6-3, 0-6 (10-7 in the tie-breaking game).
Freshman Anna Lask went 2-1 in Flight A singles, beating Elly Shearman of Tennessee-Martin 6-3, 6-2 and Alet Boonzaaiur of Tennessee Tech 6-4, 2-6 (12-10 in the tie-breaking game) before falling to Ellen Rogers of Wofford 6-4, 6-4.
Freshman Casady Pruitt went 1-1 in the Flight B singles, beating Christina Griffith of Belmont 6-0, 6-0 before falling to Petra Jantti of Coastal Carolina 5-7, 6-0 (10-8 in the tie-breaking game).
Leeper and Spencer teamed in doubles to go 2-1 in Flight A doubles, falling to UNCC's Murray and Laura Swain 8-5 before beating UNCC's Robey and Friedman 8-4 and UTC's Catherine Allen and Bethany Everett 8-4.
Hall and McQueen went 0-1 in Flight B doubles, falling to Jantti and Rosemary Younger of Coastal Carolina 8-1.
"I was really pleased with the outcome at this tournament," said MSU head coach Connie Keasling. "We played so many international players here, and a lot of our incoming freshmen haven't had the experience of that kind of competition, but they played really well."
Murray State plays this weekend at the Hoosier Classic Invitational on Oct. 3-5 at Bloomington, Ind.
