Tulane Women's Tennis Falls Short In NCAA Round Of 16

Julie Smekodub

Playing in its first-ever NCAA Tournament Round of 16 match, the Tulane women's tennis team dropped a 4-1 heartbreaker to Miami at Georgia's Magill Tennis Center on Thursday.

Tulane, ranked 11th in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll and seeded 16th in the tournament, ends its season with an impressive 27-2 record. Miami, ranked 23rd by the ITA, improves to 20-3 and advances to face No. 9 seed UCLA in the national quarterfinals.

"Anytime you come up short in a match where you feel like you have a good chance to win, you're disappointed," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "Miami is certainly a very good team. They beat the defending national champions and No. 1 seed in Florida this past weekend, so we knew they were talented. But we really felt like we could have won the match."





Miami got an early 1-0 lead thanks to wins on courts one and three in doubles. The Hurricane duo of Applebaum and Bradley, ranked 30th by the ITA, posted an 8-4 win over the Tulane team of Darya Ivanov and Julie Smekodub on at the No. 1 spot. Tulane answered with a win on court two when Nancy Kockott and Dorottya Magas, ranked 45th, recorded an 8-5 win over the Miami pairing of Robbins and Stevens. That left court three to decide the opening doubles point and the Miami team of Banada and Toro barely held off the Wave tandem of Maria Ivanov and Jenny Kuhn, 9-8.

The Hurricanes added to their lead in singles, claiming a 2-0 advantage when Megan Bradley, ranked 4th, turned in a 6-2, 6-2 win over 81st-ranked Maria Ivanov at the No. 1 spot. Nancy Kockott got Tulane on the board, however, with her 6-2, 6-1 win over Sara Robbins at No. 6 singles, trimming the Miami lead to 2-1. But Miami added its third point on court five, where Audrey Banada notched a 6-4, 6-1 win over Dorottya Magas.

But from there, Tulane mounted a rally. Knowing that a loss would give Miami the match, Jenny Kuhn rallied from a set down and a 5-2 deficit in the second stanza to force a third set at No. 2 singles. And Julie Smekodub was close to recording a point for the Wave on court three after having won her first set 6-3. In the end, however, Miami closed out the match when Staci Stevens recorded a 7-5, 6-3 win over Darya Ivanov in the No. 4 singles match.

"This was our first time here, so perhaps that played a little into our nerves," Schumacher added. "But we still had chances to win on courts two and three and, if doubles had gone our way, it would have been a completely different match. Just a few points here and there made all the difference, especially in doubles. Hopefully we can use this experience as a positive next season."

Tulane, whose 27 victories lead the nation, should return each of its top eight players next season as the squad does not have a senior in the lineup.

No. 23 Miami 4, No. 11 Tulane 1
Thursday, May 20, 2004 - NCAA Round of 16 - Athens, Ga.

Doubles:
1) #30 Applebaum/Bradley (UM) def. D. Ivanov/Smekodub (TU), 8-4
2) #45 Kockott/Magas (TU) def. Robbins/Stevens (UM), 8-5
3) Banada/Toro (UM) def. M. Ivanov/Kuhn (TU), 9-8

Singles:
1) #4 Megan Bradley (UM) def. #81 Maria Ivanov (TU), 6-2, 6-2
2) #99 Jenny Kuhn (TU) vs. Melissa Applebaum (UM), DNF
3) #58 Julie Smekodub (TU) vs. Mari Toro (UM), DNF
4) Staci Stevens (UM) def. #91 Darya Ivanov (TU), 7-5, 6-3
5) Audrey Banada (UM) def. Dorottya Magas (TU), 6-4, 6-1
6) Nancy Kockott (TU) def. Sara Robbins (UM), 6-2, 6-1