April 6, 2008

KENNESAW, Ga. - The weather continued to wreak havoc on Kennesaw State's home schedule this weekend, forcing the women's tennis team to take on two of the Atlantic Sun Conference's top teams in a doubleheader on Sunday. The Owls dropped both matches in tough fashion, falling 5-2 to North Florida in the opener and 6-0 to Jacksonville in the night cap.

"I am very proud of the effort of the team today, from start to finish," said Kennesaw State head coach Brandon Padgett. "Each player fought hard, under very difficult circumstances that were unfortunately out of our control."

Mercedes Cobos returned to the Owls (5-11, 1-8) lineup for the first time in nearly a month, running her doubles winning streak, with partner Ayano Tanaka, to three matches after a thrilling 8-7 (9-7) defeat of Victoria Krook and Maria Melihova in No. 3 doubles. Cobos also earned one of the Owls two points in singles against UNF (11-10, 8-2), taking a shortened 7-5, 1-6 1-0 (13-11) decision from Carolina Melo at No. 6.

Paula Takara returned to her winning ways in the Owls loss to the Ospreys, coming back from a set down to defeat Krook 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8). The Owls senior finished the day with an 8-7 overall spring record and a 4-5 mark against A-Sun opponents.

"We were forced to play two matches today against two of the best teams in the conference, with a line-up that is not at full strength due to our myriad of injuries this season," added Padgett on the difficult circumstances facing his team. "I could not be happier with how hard the entire team tried today."

After rain pushed back their match two days, the Owls and Ospreys finally got things started at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. UNF jumped out to the early lead, securing wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to earn the match's first point.

Ina Durcakova and Vanessa Sanchez bested Karen Ammann and Caroline Page 8-2 at No. 2 before Natalia Sanchez and Melo sealed the doubles win by dropping Agatha Palider and Lindsay Dillon 8-4.

The top of the Owls lineup didn't fare as well as the bottom. Palider was swept 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 while Tanaka had to retire, 2-6, 3-2 after taking the lead in the second set at No. 2. It marked the third-straight match that the freshman from Norcross has lost due to retirement in the second set.

Ammann and Baulis were also swept at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively. Ammann fell 3-6, 2-6 to Durcakova while Baulis lost 0-6, 1-6 to Melo for her first defeat of the season in the fourth position.

Without getting much time to rest, the Owls retook the court to face Jacksonville looking to split the doubleheader. Due to time constraints, the teams began the match with the singles competition as opposed to playing the doubles matches first.

Jacksonville (14-4, 8-1) took advantage of the tired and wounded Owls, who were playing without Cobos or Tanaka, in the second match. They swept all six matches to defeat KSU 6-0, making the doubles competition unnecessary.

Ammann, who was elevated to No. 2 singles due to Tanaka's injury, fell 0-6, 0-6 to Lena Willi. Palider's record at No. 1 dropped to 0-2 after her 1-6, 3-6 loss to Lina Xu.

Tatiana Soldatova defeated Takara 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3, Juliana Umeki downed Page 6-4, 6-3 at No. 4, Iva Jaresova dropped Lindsey Whalen 6-3, 6-0 at No. 5, and Fernando Carrero beat Dillon 6-0, 6-1 at No. 6.

The Owls will get no relief, as they are scheduled to take on Lipscomb at 3 p.m. on Monday in a makeup of a March match that was postponed by the rain.

"Lipscomb will mark the third match in 24 hours for us," concluded Padgett. "That's tough for any team to handle, regardless of their depth."

Kennesaw State, who is not eligible for postseason play, will wrap-up it's A-Sun season with a home match against in-state rival Mercer at 3 p.m. on Wednesday April 9 at the KSU Tennis Complex.


North Florida 5, Kennesaw State 2

Doubles
1. N. Sanchez/C. Melo (UNF) def. Palider/Dillon (KSU) 8-4
2. Durcakova/V. Sanchez (UNF) def. Ammann/Page (KSU) 8-2
3. Cobos/Tanaka (KSU) def. Krook/Melihova (UNF) 8-7 (9-7)

Singles
1. Natalia Sanchez (UNF) def. Agatha Palider (KSU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Vanessa Sanchez (UNF) def. Ayano Tanaka (KSU) 6-2, 2-3, (ret. inj.)
3. Maria Melihova (UNF) def. Karen Ammann (KSU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Ina Durcakova (UNF) def. Allison Baulis (KSU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Paula Takara (KSU) def. Victoria Krook (UNF) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
6. Mercedes Cobos (KSU) def. Carolina Melo (UNF) 7-5, 1-6, 1-0 (13-11)



Jacksonville 6, Kennesaw State 0

Singles
1. Lina Xu (JU) def. Agatha Palider (KSU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Lena Willi (JU) def. Karen Ammann (KSU) 6-0, 6-0
3. Tatiana Soldatova (JU) def. Paula Takara (KSU) 6-1, 6-0
4. Juliana Umeki (JU) def. Caroline Page (KSU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Iva Jaresova (JU) def. Lindsey Whalen (KSU) 6-3, 6-0
6. Fernando Carrero (JU) def. Lindsay Dillon (KSU) 6-0, 6-1