April 29, 2001
Huntington, W.V. - Eastern Michigan University claimed the
2001 Mid-American Conference Women's Tennis Tournament Championship on
Sunday afternoon by defeating Marshall University, 4-3, in a match that lasted four and a
half hours.
"It is incredible," Eastern Michigan head coach Dave Farmer said. "They were all good
teams out here, it is a shame someone had to lose."
Eastern Michigan's Simone Duhme defeated Marshall's Ana Ceretto in the No. 2 slot,
7-5, in the third set to give the Eagles the championship. Others picking up wins for the
Eagles were Rebecca Hawkins, who defeated Anna Mitina, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 1 slot.
Lisa D'Amelio outlasted Marshall's Alice Sukner, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the No. 3 slot. Amalia
Lincaru of Eastern also defeated Vicky Lee, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0, in the No. 4 spot.
"It is what you dream about," Duhme said. "Marshall played tough, and going down in the
doubles point, we knew that we had to pick up four singles wins. It was not my match
that won, it just took the longest. It is unbelievable."
Marshall picked up the first point of the day by claiming the doubles point. Mitina and
Ceretto defeated Hawkins and D'Amelio, 8-6, in the No. 1 slot, and Skalsky and Cabiling
defeated Lincaru and Clark, 8-2, in the No. 3 spot.
"It was a great championship match today," Marshall head coach Laurie Mercer said.
"Eastern Michigan played a courageous match and certainly deserve to be the
tournament champions. I could not be more proud of my players, especially the seniors."
Eastern Michigan last won the MAC Tournament Championship in 1998.
April 26, 2001
2001 MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TENNIS
TOURNAMENT
Huntington, WV- Marshall University and Eastern Michigan University each clinched a
spot in the championship match of the 2001 Mid-American Conference Women's Tennis
on Saturday afternoon at the Marshall University Tennis Courts.
Marshall advanced to the championship match for the second consecutive season with
a 4-0 win over Miami University. Marshall's Anna Mitina defeated Miami's Ivona Grujic,
6-2, 6-1, at the No. 1 spot to get the Herd rolling. The Herd's Ana Ceretto also notched a
win over Kadija Richards in the No. 2 slot, 6-3, 6-2. Rounding out the scoring in singles
play was Vicky Lee as she knocked off Miami's Catherine Dilley, 6-2, 6-0. Marshall also
picked up the doubles point.
"Getting into the finals was our focus," Marshall head coach Laurie Mercer said. "That
has been our goal all season and anything less would have been a disappointment.
Eastern Michigan is a very good team and they're playing maybe their best tennis of the
season right now."
"We hit the ball very well, but we were competing at one level below Marshall," Miami
head coach Ray Reppert said. "Marshall played very high energy, ball control tennis
today."
Eastern Michigan claimed the upset of the day by knocking off the defending MAC
Tournament Champion Western Michigan Broncos, 4-2, in a match that lasted nearly
four hours.
"It is a big win at the right time," Eastern Michigan head coach Dave Farmer said. "They
(Western Michigan) had one of their players out and played us right down to the bone.
They brought their best game and we had to fight them right down to the last point."
"It was a well deserved, hard fought win. It is the rivalry, so it has to come down to that."
The Eagles struck first by capturing the doubles point. At the No. 1 slot, Eastern's
Rebecca Hawkins defeated Western's Larissa Chinwah, 7-6 (1), 6-3. Lisa D'Amelio of
Eastern also picked up a point with a 6-3, 6-0, win over Melanie Remynse in the No. 3
spot. Finishing the scoring for Eastern was No. 5 player, Shari Gamarnik, who knocked
off Mariana Quintanilla of Western, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
The Championship Match will be played on Sunday, April 29, at 1 p.m. at the Marshall
Tennis Courts.
SUNDAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:
Marshall University Tennis Courts
No. 2 Marshall vs. No. #4 Eastern Michigan, 1 p.m.
2001 Mid-American Conference Women's Tennis Tourmament
Huntington, WV- The University of Toledo and Northern
Illinois University each picked up wins in the 2001
Mid-American Conference Women's Tennis Tournament on
Thursday, April 27, at the Marshall University Tennis Courts.
Toledo (9-11) recorded the first win in this year's tournament with a 4-0 victory over
Buffalo (3-16) in the morning session. Natalya Natyshak, Marivi Cuartin and Anne
Tabernik all earned wins for the Rockets in singles play, and the team swept the Bulls in
doubles play.
"I'm proud of how well we played today, we were prepared for today's matches," Toledo
head coach Jeff Westmeyer said. "The way we played today put us in a position to play
well in our next match."
With the win, the Rockets will advance to meet the defending MAC Tournament
Champion Western Michigan on Friday, April 27, at 10 a.m. The Huskies are now set to
square off with host institution Marshall University on Friday, April 27, at 1 p.m. Both
matches will be played at the Marshall University Tennis Courts.
Northern Illinois (8-11) picked up the day's second win with a 4-0 decision over Akron
(3-15) in the afternoon session. Northern's Karrie Tyioran and Kristi McIntyre each picked
up wins in singles matches, and Tanja Sukovic teamed with Tyioran to win a doubles
match. The Huskies also picked up a point as Akron forfeited the No. 6 singles match.
"Today we were able to get out on the courts and work on a few aspects of our game,"
Northern Illinois head coach Laura Scott said. "We were able to get all seven girls some
playing time today."
Other matches scheduled for Friday, April 27, will feature Eastern Michigan University
versus Ball State University at 10 a.m. at the Huntington High School Tennis Courts.
Miami University will face Bowling Green State University at 1 p.m., also at the Huntington
High School Tennis Courts.
Friday Matchups:
Marshall University Tennis Courts
No. 8 Toledo versus No. 1 Western Michigan, 10 a.m.
No. 7 Northern Illinois versus No. 2 Marshall, 2 p.m.
Huntington High Tennis Courts
No. 5 Ball State versus No. 4 Eastern Michigan, 2 p.m.
No. 6 Bowling Green versus No. 3 Miami, 2 p.m.