No. 16-ranked Tulane earned its third Conference USA championship title in the last four days and third consecutive C-USA Women's Tennis Tournament title on Sunday as the Green Wave women collected a 4-3 victory over TCU at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth, Texas. The defending champion and top-seeded Tulane jumped ahead early with a dramatic doubles point en route to collecting wins at the Nos. 3, 5 and 6 singles positions.

"That match was as dramatic of a match as I have ever seen in my 30 years," said Tulane's head coach and C-USA Coach of the Decade David Schumacher. "I thought both teams did an excellent job of fighting for each point."

Tulane posted the first win in doubles play at No. 2 as the 35th-ranked doubles team of Julie Smekodub and Jenny Kuehn beat Helena Besovic and Kewa Nichols, 8-1. However, the Frogs' seniors Karla Mancinas and Paige Brown responded to beat Nancy Kockott and Ana Saaibi, 8-6 at three.

The pressure then fell on the Green Wave sister duo of Maria and Darya Ivanov as the doubles point was determined following their 9-8 (3) defeat of TCU's 32-ranked doubles tandem of Story Tweedie-Yates and Ana Cetnik.

The squads went back and forth the entire match with each recording three singles wins. Green Wave's Kockott grabbed the first singles win with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Andrea Morgado at No. 5, but TCU responded with a convincing 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 1 by Story Tweedie-Yates, who is currently ranked 16th in the country. TCU's Cetnik beat Darya Ivanov, 1-6,6-3,6-1 at No. 4, while Tulane's Saaibi defeated Gloriann Lopez, 7-5, 7-5 at No. 6.

With rain teasing the final matches, TCU's 55th-ranked Besovic pulled off an incredible come-from-behind win over No. 53 Jenny Kuehn, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. But it was the efforts of Smekodub that sealed the win as the junior defeated TCU's Nichols, 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

"Todays match seemed to have everything," said Schumacher. "From tiebreakers to come-from-behind wins, all the way to a very participatory home crowd. Today's win was very exciting for the Tulane program."

With the Championship win, Tulane (23-4) has earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

The Green Wave's women's golf team rallied from a nine-stroke deficit to win the C-USA Women’s Golf Championship, while its men's tennis team defeated Louisville 4-1 in the championship match of the 2005 Conference USA Men’s Tennis Championship also on Sunday at the Bass-Rudd Tennis Center in Louisville, Ky.

Match #22 – Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center
(1) Tulane 4, (2) TCU 3

Singles
1. Story Tweedie-Yates, TCU def. Maria Ivanov, TUL, 6-4, 6-4
2. Helena Besovic, TCU def. Jenny Kuehn, TUL, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
3. Julie Smekodub, TUL def. Kewa Nichols, TCU, 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-4
4. Ana Cetnik, TCU def. Daya Ivanov, TUL, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1
5. Nancy Kockott, TUL def. Andrea Morgando, TCU, 6-3, 6-3
6. Ana Saaibi, TUL def. Gloriann Lopez, TCU, 7-5, 7-5

Doubles
1. Maria Ivanov/Darya Ivanov, TUL def. Story Tweedie-Yates/Ana Cetnik, TCU, 9-8(3)
2. Julie Smekodub/Jenny Kuehn, TUL def. Helena Besovic/Kewa Nichols, TCU, 8-1
3. Karla Mancinas/Paige Brown, TCU def. Nancy Kockott/Ana Saaibi, TUL, 8-6