April 25, 2008

Complete Results

By Beth Miller
www.SIUSalukis.com

OMAHA, Neb. - The Southern Illinois University women's tennis team fell to Northern Iowa in the opening round of the MVC Championships, 4-1.

The Salukis captured the doubles point, to gain a 1-0 lead. Sabine Tsala Mvilongo and Jessica Flannery defeated Diana Mendez and Sampada Kanade, 9-8, in No. 1 doubles. Martina Vianna Ce and Michela Cruise were unable to hold off Meghana Paritala and Taynara Moraes at No. 2 doubles, falling 8-4. Amanda Taillefer and Andrea Courtney defeated Carolina Hannes and Laia Gonzalez-Garrido at No. 3 doubles, for an early 1-0 lead.

Tsala was unable to hold off Kanade at No. 1 singles, falling 6-2, 6-3. No. 2 and No. 5 singles were not played, resulting in no score. Gonzalez-Garrido won by default at No. 3 singles against Cruise, while Hannes grabbed the win over Courtney at No. 6 singles.

"We were very happy with doubles," said head coach Audra Nothwehr. "In singles, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 all went three sets. We were right there, but just couldn't close those matches. It was a disappointing loss, we were just down one too many people. Michela played really well in doubles, we were excited to see her get back up and go for it."

Northern Iowa 4, Southern Illinois 1

Singles
No. 1 Sampada Kanade (UNI) def. Sabine Tsala Mvilongo (SIU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 Meghana Paritala (UNI) vs. Martina Vianna Cé (SIU) no result
No. 3 Laia Gonzalez-Garrido (UNI) def. Michela Cruise (SIU) 4-0, default
No. 4 Taynara Moraes (UNI) def. Jessica Flannery (SIU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 Diana Mendez (UNI) vs. Amanda Taillefer (SIU) no result
No. 6 Carolina Hannes (UNI) def. Andrea Courtney (SIU) 6-1, 6-0

Doubles
No. 1 Tsala/Flannery (SIU) def. Mendez/Kanade (UNI) 9-8, (7-2)
No. 2 Paritala/Moraes (UNI) def. Cé/Cruise (SIU) 8-4
No. 3 Taillefer/Courtney (SIU) def. Hannes/Gonzalez-Garrido (UNI) 8-5