Tulane Women's Tennis Cruises Past Unbeaten UNO

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane women's tennis team handed undefeated UNO its first loss of the season and did so in convincing fashion, winning all six singles matches in straight sets en route to an impressive 7-0 victory at the Goldring Tennis Stadium on Tuesday.

The win was Tulane's second straight 7-0 victory, improving the Green Wave to 9-11 on the season. UNO lost for the first time in 22 matches this season, dropping to 21-1. Tulane entered the match ranked 42nd in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, while UNO was listed 55th.

"I really expected that we should win today," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "I knew we could win all of the singles matches and all of the doubles matches. However, I knew we could lose all of the matches as well. Coming into the match we knew we had played a much tougher schedule, which I think made us a little more battle tested. But it also made us a little more battle scared. Out team really fights hard, though, and I think that is what happened today. We just fought very hard in each of our matches."

Tulane took control of the match early, winning the opening doubles point for a 1-0 lead. The Wave duo of Anna Monhartova and Anneli Axsater posted an 8-0 win at No. 3 doubles against UNO's Simone Zettier and Liselott Hedenberg. It was Monhartova and Axsater's second straight 8-0 victory, as the two won the No. 3 doubles match against Southern Miss on Sunday by the exact same score. Tulane's Nancy Kockott and Olga Mikhailova clinched the doubles point with their 8-6 victory over Inge Veerman and Ana Santoro at No. 2 doubles.

In singles play, Tulane captured each of the six matches in straight sets to cruise to the 7-0 team win. Joyce Bergman was the first Tulane player off the court, turning in an impressive 6-2, 6-1, win against Veerman at No. 3 singles to give the Wave a 2-0 advantage. Kockott and Maiko Cook then finished almost simultaneously to clinch the dual match win, with each posting a 6-1, 6-3 victory to give Tulane a 4-0 cushion. Kockott claimed the No. 4 singles match for Tulane with her win against Santoro, while Cook topped Zettier in the No. 5 singles match. Anneli Axsater held off Hedenberg, 7-5, 6-1, at No. 6 singles to give Tulane a 5-0 advantage before an odd occurance clinched the Wave's sweep.

In the No. 1 singles match, Monhartova fought back from 4-1 down in the second set to capture a 6-4, 6-4 victory over UNO's Sofia Hallstrom. However, when Hallstrom threw her racket in frustration at the conclusion of the match, a penalty point was awarded to Tulane's Julie Morris, the only Wave player still playing. With Morris at match point, the penalty point lifted her to a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over Patricia Osedumme at No. 2 singles, giving Tulane a clean sweep of the six singles matches.

Tulane closes out the regular season on Monday, April 16, when the Green Wave play host to Conference USA rival Marquette at the Goldring Tennis Center. The match is set to begin at 4 p.m.

Tulane 7, UNO 0

Singles: 
Tulane                UNO                   Winner   Score 
Anna Monhartova       Sofia Hallstrom       Tulane   6-4, 6-4 
Julie Morris          Patricia Osedumme     Tulane   6-4, 6-4 
Joyce Bergman         Inge Veerman          Tulane   6-2, 6-1 
Nancy Kockott         Ana Santoro           Tulane   6-1, 6-3 
Maiko Cook            Simone Zettier        Tulane   6-1, 6-3 
Anneli Axsater        Liselott Hedenberg    Tulane   7-5, 6-1 

Doubles 
Morris/Bergman        Hallstom/Osedume      UNO      8-5 
Kockott/Mikhailova    Veerman/Santoro       Tulane   8-6 
Axsater/Monhartova    Zettier/Hedenberg     Tulane   8-0