Sept. 20, 2009
MIDLAND, Texas - Members of the Texas A&M women's tennis team were unable to advance to the singles and doubles championship matches at the Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational after suffering losses in today's semifinal events.
"We had a lot of opportunities in all of our matches today, but we just didn't capitalize," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "We were playing well, but we weren't getting the right points at the right time and were unable to close out leads."
Freshman Nazari Urbina's run came to an end after falling to 110th-ranked Mary Weatherholt of Nebraska, 7-6, 7-5, in the singles semifinals.
"Nazari was up 4-2 with game point in the first set and didn't get the game," Kleineke said. "In the second set, she had a 5-4 lead but couldn't close it out. She'll go back and work on some things, and today's results don't take away from what she accomplished in her first collegiate tournament."
A&M also lost both consolation semifinal singles matches. Christina Amo fell to Bianca Jochimsen of Boise State, 6-4, 7-5, and Sheri Oliver fell to Andrea Oates of Pepperdine, 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (8).
The Aggie duo of Urbina and Olivier also fell in the semifinals of the doubles bracket as Boise State's Pichittra Thongdach and Lauren Megale overcame a 6-5 deficit to win, 9-7.
A&M's Stephanie Davidson and Lauren Santacroce picked up extra singles matches today after being eliminated from the tournament on Saturday. Davidson fell to Carla Lindlar of Baylor, 6-2, 7-6, and Santacroce dropped a 7-6, 7-6 decision to Karolina Filipiak, also of Baylor in the unscheduled matches.
"Other than Friday's first-round matches, I felt much better in the way we competed," Kleinecke said. "We learned that we need to get off to a faster start, and with the exception of the first round, I though we did well."
In the upcoming schedule, Aggies Elzé Potgieter and Morgan Frank will begin their fall season competition Oct. 3-4 in the pre-qualifying rounds of the ITA All-American championships to be held at the Los Angeles Tennis Center located on the UCLA campus.
Racquet Club Collegiate Invitational -Day 3 Results
Singles - Semifinals
(#110) Mary Weatherholt (Neb) def. Nazari Urbina (TAMU), 7-6, 7-5
Consolation Singles - Semifinals
Bianca Jochimsen (Boise St) def. Christina Amo (TAMU), 6-4, 7-5
Andrea Oates (Pepperdine) def Sheri Olivier (TAMU), 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (8)
Doubles Semifinals
Thongdach/Megale (Boise St) def. Urbina/Olivier (TAMU), 9-7
Extra singles matches
Carla Lindlar (Bay) def. Stephanie Davidson (TAMU), 6-2, 7-6
Karolina Filipiak (Bay) def. Lauren Santacroce (TAMU), 7-6, 7-6