May 25, 2006

Palo Alto, Calif. - Kellie Schmitt and Lynzee Kever proved they could play with anyone in the country Thursday, but came up short (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) in their bid for an upset over the No. 12 ranked duo of Laura Gordon and Riza Zalameda of UCLA in the NCAA Doubles Tournament hosted by Stanford.

"I was really proud of both Kellie and Lynzee, they really played a great match against one of the best team's in the country," Marshall head coach John Mercer said. "It really came down to a couple points and sometimes you win those points and sometimes you don't. I know that they're disappointed about the result, but excited with how they played. I think we have a lot to look forward to as they continue to work hard and gain more experience. We're going to keep seeing better and better results."

Schmitt and Kever came out and took the first set over the Bruins and took a 2-0 lead in the second set before the UCLA duo would get going and take six of the next seven games to force the third and deciding set.

In the third, it was a back-and-forth battle as Kever and Schmitt were locked with Zalameda and Gordon at three games a piece. However, UCLA would take the next two games to go up 5-3. Kever then held serve for the Herd to close the gap to 5-4, but the Bruins came right back behind the serving of Zalameda to clinch the match in the final game.

Kever and Schmitt finish up the year with an impressive record of 20-5 and were ranked as high as No. 31. Both players feel like they'll be back mext year to make some noise as Kever enters her senior year and Schmitt returns for her sophomore season.

"We played really well today," Kever said. "We showed what we're capable of out there, unfortunately we didn't win, but we know we can play with anyone in the top 10 in the country. Being out here (at the NCAAs)makes you want it even more."

Schmitt followed up with similar feelings.

"This was a great experience for us and it'll only help us get better and give us something to really work toward next season," she said. "I thought we played really well today and showed we could compete with the top schools. Just a few here and there and we would have had them."

Zalameda and Gordon will now face Whitney Benik and Alexis Gordon of Florida in the round of sixteen.