East Carolinian

Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Staff

ECU's season came to an end as the Lady Pirates dropped a 5-0 decision to top-seeded Tulsa in the quarterfinal round of the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship Tournament Friday afternoon at the John E. Hoff Courts.

Eighth-seeded ECU closed out its fourth-consecutive winning season with a 17-6 record.

The top-seeded Golden Hurricane of Tulsa (21-5) went on to win their second-consecutive C-USA Women's Tennis Championship on Sunday when they ousted No. 2 Marshall, 4-1.

TU fell behind early when it lost the doubles point, but rallied back to take singles victories at Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 for its second women's tennis title in program history.

Against ECU, Tulsa quickly extended a 1-0 lead after doubles play by capturing four singles matches in straight sets. Agostina Sontoro and Rebecca Row cruised to 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0, 6-1 wins over Tamara Sachs and Brooke Walter at the No. 6 and No. 4 positions, respectively. Thalia Diaz-Barriga followed with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Varinia Soler at No. 2 before Marta Marcinkowska handled Luiza Borges 6-3, 6-4 at the No. 5 slot.

Diaz-Barriga and Marcinkowska teamed up for an 8-4 triumph over Borges and Mireia Gol to open the doubles action at No. 2, while Alexandra Kichoutkin and Carla Zabaleta clinched the tally moments later with a similar 8-4 victory over Alex Smith and Walter at No. 1.

ECU did not leave the C-USA Tournament empty-handed, as it recorded an opening round 4-2 victory over UAB on Thursday.

The Lady Pirates overcame a doubles point loss with four singles wins, advancing to their third quarterfinal appearance in four years in the tournament after recording the 4-2 win over ninth-seeded UAB.

Mireia Gol sparked ECU's comeback by posting the Lady Pirates' first point to trim an early 2-0 deficit in half. After Gol's 7-5, 7-5 victory over Antonia Nugent at the No. 2 position, Tamara Sachs, Brooke Walter and Varinia Soler each rallied for three-set triumphs to secure the team win. Sachs handled Ceylan Engin (4-6, 6-0, 6-0) in a No. 6 match, while Walter defeated Jenny Cape (6-7, 6-2, 6-3) at No. 4, and Soler hung on for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 victory over Gulsah Esen at No. 2 to enable ECU to advance.

The Blazers used wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles slots to open the match with a 1-0 lead. Evelien Strikjer and Nugent handed Alex Smith and Walter an 8-5 setback before Cape and Seden Soyalp ended pairs play early with an 8-6 triumph over Hannah Priest and Soler.

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