CHAMP CENTRAL
PHOTO GALLERY
TULSA, Okla. - Thursday at the 2015 American Athletic Conference Tennis Championships featured the four women’s quarterfinals and one men’s first-round match. The Houston, SMU, Tulsa and Tulane women advanced to Friday’s semifinals, while the Temple men punched their ticket to the quarterfinals.
Women’s Championship - Quarterfinals
No. 1 Houston 4, No. 8 UConn 0
Top-seeded Houston advanced to The American Championships semifinals with a 4-0 win over UConn Thursday at Case Tennis Center.
The Cougars took the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and No. 3. UConn opened the match by taking No. 1 with a 6-4 win from Maxene Weinberg and Srna Stosljevic over Elena Kordolaimi and Despoina Vogasari. Houston’s Angela Lorenzo and Mina Markovic defeated UConn’s Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva and Summer Walker 7-5 at No. 3 before the Cougar duo of Rocio Martin and Tina Rupert downed the Huskies’ Emma Alderman and Zaina Zaki 6-4 at No. 2.
Houston recorded singles wins at No. 2, No. 4 and No. 6 to win the match. Lorenzo defeated UConn’s Shea Flanagan at No. 6 (6-0, 6-2), Kordolaimi downed Alderman at No. 2 (6-3, 6-2) and Martin clinched the match with a win over Walker at No. 6 (6-3, 6-1).
Houston advances to face SMU in Friday’s semifinals.
Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 1,3,2*)
D1- Maxene Weinberg/Srna Stosjevic (UConn) def. Elena Kordolaimi/Despoina Vogasari (HOU) - 6-4
D2- Rocio Martin/Tina Rupert (HOU) def. Emma Alderman/Zaina Zaki (UConn) - 6-4
D3- Angela Lorenzo/Mina Markovic (HOU) def. Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva/Summer Walker (UConn) - 7-5
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 6,2,4*)
S1- Srna Stosljevic (UConn) vs. Despoina Vogasari (HOU) - DNF
S2- Elena Kordolaimi (HOU) def. Emma Alderman (UConn) - 6-3, 6-2
S3- Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva (UConn) vs. Tina Rupert (HOU) - DNF
S4- Rocio Martin (HOU) def. Summer Walker (UConn) - 6-3, 6-1
S5- Zaina Zaki (UConn) vs. Mina Markovic (HOU) - DNF
S6- Angela Lorenzo (HOU) def. Shea Flanagan (UConn) - 6-0, 6-2
No. 4 SMU 4, No. 5 Memphis 3
Fourth-seeded SMU punch its ticket to The American Championships semifinals with a 4-3 victory over Memphis.
The Mustangs won the doubles point with a victory at No. 2 and by default at No.3. The SMU pairing of Hristina Dishkova and Holly Verner downed Memphis’ Liza Tymchenko and Marta Morga 6-3 at No. 2 for the point.
The Tigers took the top three singles matches to put the Mustangs up against a 3-1 deficit, needing to win at No. 4, 5 and 6 for the victory. Morga defeated SMU’s Dasha Sharapova at No. 3 (6-4, 6-2), Anki Wind downed Dishkova at No. 1 (7-6 [9], 6-0) and Tymchenko beat Anna Kate Anderson at No. 2 (6-4, 6-4).
SMU would respond with a win from Holly Verner at No. 6 (6-3, 6-4) over Tara McElroy and a victory at No. 4 from Yana Erkeeva (6-2, 3-6, 6-2) over Kathryn Hughes to set up Vaszilisza Bulgakova for a match-clinching win at No. 5 over Alyssa Hibberd (6-4, 2-6, 6-3).
The Mustangs will face top-seeded Houston in Friday’s semifinals.
Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 2*)
D1- Anki Wind/Alyssa Hibberd (MEM) vs. Dasha Sharapova/Vaszilisza Bulgakova (SMU) - DNF
D2- Hristina Dishkova/Holly Verner (SMU) def. Liza Tymchenko/Marta Morga (MEM) - 6-3
D3- Macie Elliott/Mary Wright (SMU) def. Kathryn Hughes/Tara McElroy (MEM) - Walkover
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 3,1,2,6,4,5*)
S1- Anki Wind (MEM) def. Hristina Dishkova (SMU) - 7-6(9), 6-0
S2- Liza Tymchenko (MEM) def. Anna Kate Anderson (SMU) - 6-4, 6-4
S3- Marta Morga (MEM) def. Dasha Sharapova (SMU) - 6-4, 6-2
S4- Yana Erkeeva (SMU) def. Kathryn Hughes (MEM) - 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
S5- Vaszilisza Bulgakova (SMU) def. Alyssa Hibberd (MEM) - 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
S6- Holly Verner (SMU) def. Tara McElroy (MEM) - 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Tulsa 4, No. 6 UCF 0
The host Tulsa Golden Hurricane advanced to The American Championships semifinals with a 4-0 win over UCF.
The Golden Hurricane took the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. Mahitha Dadireddy and Saana Saarteinen downed Cortney Cesarini and Monica Matias 6-0 at No. 3, while Rongrong Leenabanchong and Marcelina Cichon defeated the Knights’ Clare Mendell and Sofia Baptista 6-3 at No. 2. Caroline Eberhart and Kennan Johnson picked up a win for UCF at No. 1 doubles with a 6-1 victory over Ksenia Laskutova and Renata Kuricova.
Saarteinen downed Matias at No. 5 singles (6-1, 6-0), Leenabanchong defeated Cesarini at No. 2 (6-4, 6-3) and Cichon closed out the match with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Johnson at No. 3.
Tulsa will face Tulane in one of two Friday semifinals.
Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 3,1,2*)
D1- Caroline Eberhart/Kennan Johnson (UCF) def. Ksenia Laskutova/Renata Kuricova (TLS) - 6-1
D2- Rongrong Leenabanchong/Marcelina Cichon (TLS) def. Clare Mendell/Sofia Baptista (UCF) - 6-3
D3- Mahitha Dadireddy/Saana Saarteinen (TLS) def. Cortney Cesarini/Monica Matias (UCF) - 6-0
Singles Competition ( Order of Finish: 5,2,3*)
S1- Caroline Eberhart (UCF) vs. Ksenia Laskutova (TLS) - DNF
S2- Rongrong Leenabanchong (TLS) def. Cortney Cesarini (UCF) - 6-4, 6-3
S3- Marcelina Cichon (TLS) def. Kennan Johnson (UCF) - 6-2, 6-4
S4- Clare Mendell (UCF) vs. Yelena Nemchen (TLS) - DNF
S5- Saana Saarteinen (TLS) def. Monica Matias (UCF) - 6-1, 6-0
S6- Sofia Baptista (UCF) vs. Renata Kuricova (TLS) - DNF
No. 2 Tulane 4, No. 7 Temple 0
Second-seeded Tulane posted a 4-0 win over Temple in a Thursday quarterfinal at The American Championships at Case Tennis Center.
The Green Wave won both completed doubles matches for the first point with wins at No. 2 and No. 3. Kyla Klier and Jacqui Katz won 6-3 at No. 3 over Anais Nussaume and Yana Khon, while Vanessa Nommensen and Nicky Stracar were victorious at No. 2 over Monet Stuckey-Willis and Rebecca Breland by a 6-4 margin.
Klier defeated Nussaume at No.6 (6-2, 6-1), Katz downed Minami Okajima at No. 4 (6-4, 6-2) and Nommensen beat Dina Karina at No. 3 (6-3, 6-3) for the victory.
Tulane will face Tulsa in semifinal action Friday.
Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 3,2*)
D1- Alina Abdurakhimova/Dina Karina (TEM) vs. Sade Atkinson/Naz Karagoz (TLN) - DNF
D2- Vanessa Nommensen/Nicky Stracar (TLN) def. Monet Stuckey-Willis/Rebecca Breland (TEM) - 6-4
D3- Kyla Klier/Jacqui Katz (TLN) def. Anais Nussaume/Yana Khon (TEM) - 6-3
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 6,4,3*)
S1- Alina Abdurakhimova (TEM) vs. Naz Karagoz (TLN) - DNF
S2- Monet Stuckey-Willis (TEM) vs. Nicky Stracar (TLN) - DNF
S3- Vanessa Nommensen (TLN) def. Dina Karina (TEM) - 6-3, 6-3
S4- Jacqui Katz (TLN) def. Minami Okajima (TEM) - 6-4, 6-2
S5- Yana Khon (TEM) vs. Meredith Maltby (TLN) - DNF
S6- Kyla Klier (TLN) def. Anais Nussaume (TEM) - 6-2, 6-1
Men’s Championship - First Round
No. 8 Temple 4, No. 9 UConn 0
Eighth-seeded Temple recorded a 4-0 sweep of UConn at Case Tennis Center Thursday to advance to The American Championships quarterfinals.
The Owls took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. UConn grabbed the first match with a 6-4 win at No. 2 from Andrew Ginzberg and Zac McEntee over Temple’s Vineet Naran and Santiago Canete. The Owls’ Nicolas Paulus and Hicham Belkssir won 7-5 at No. 1 over the Huskies tandem of Jacob Spreyer and Christopher Toner before the Temple duo of Ian Glessing and Ondre Cargill defeated Joshua Palmer and Jonathan Edwards 7-6 (5) at No. 3 for the point.
The top three singles players would take care of business for the Owls for the victory, with all three winning in straight sets. Paulus defeated McEntee at No. 2 (6-1, 6-4), Belkssir won over Toner at No. 3 (6-2, 6-3) and Canete closed out the match at No. 1 with a win over Spreyer (6-1, 7-6 [5]).
The Owls advance to face No. 1 USF Friday morning in quarterfinal play.
Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 2,1,3*)
1. Nicolas Paulus/Hicham Belkssir (TEM) def. Jacob Spreyer/Christopher Toner (UConn), 7-5
2. Andrew Ginzberg/Zac McEntee (UConn) def. Vineet Naran/Santiago Canete (TEM), 6-4
3. Ian Glessing/Ondre Cargill (TEM) def. Joshua Palmer/Jonathan Edwards (UConn), 7-6(5)
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 2,3,1*)
1. Santiago Canete (TEM) def. Jacob Spreyer (UConn), 6-1, 7-6(5)
2. Nicolas Paulus (TEM) def. Zac McEntee (UConn), 6-1, 6-4
3. Hicham Belkssir (TEM) def. Christopher Toner (UConn), 6-2, 6-3
4. Vineet Naran (TEM) vs. Parker Goldstein (UConn), DNF
5. Filip Stipcic (TEM) vs. Jonathan Edwards (UConn), DNF
6. Stephen Ong (TEM) vs. Andrew Ginzberg (UConn), DNF