FT. WAYNE, Ind., April 22 - The most successful tennis season in Southern Utah University history came to a disappointing end Friday night when third seed UMKC upset the second seeded Thunderbirds, 4-2, in the semi-final round of the Summit League Tournament.
UMKC, which lost a 5-2 decision to the Thunderbirds earlier in the season, won the doubles points, then got points at second, fifth and sixth singles to claim the win and advance to the championship round of the tournament. The Kangaroos will face defending champion and 2011 regular-season champ IPFW tomorrow for the title.
The Kangaroos got wins at second and third doubles as Laura Bouet and Suzan Lisenby took an 8-3 win over Kirrily Burden and Alex Ivanova, 8-3, at No. 2 while Gabriela Pintos and Jillian Yakominich got past SUU's Danica Ingwaldson and Afton Staheli by an 8-4 count. With the doubles point decided the match between SUU's Ksusha Nazarova and Olia Tatarchenko vs. Eva Dalvai and Chelsea Horner was stopped with Nazarova and Tatarchenko holding a 6-3 lead.
Southern Utah briefly took the lead, as Tatarchenko beat Horner, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 3 and Burden claimed a 6-0, 6-2 win over Lisenby at No. 4, but Bouet pulled things even with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Summit League Newcomer of the Year Ivanova at No. 2.
The 'Roos pulled ahead 3-2 after Gabriela Pintos beat Staheli by a 6-4, 6-0 count at No. 6, then won the match when Yakominich outlasted Ingwaldson, 6-4, 6-3, at No. 5. The loss was just the second all season for Ingwaldson, who finished the year with a 17-2 record.
Nazarova was leading Dalvai, 6-4, 4-5, when the match was decided.
With her win Tatarchenko improved to 18-1 on the season to set the SUU record for wins and winning percentage in a season.
The match was delayed over 2 ½ hours after the tournament was moved indoors because of inclement weather.
"It was disappointing to lose, but UMKC played very well tonight," SUU Coach Lenny Lee said. "We had a successful season and we'll look forward to next year, when we will have everyone back from this year's team."
SUU, which saw a school-record 13-match winning streak come to an end Friday, finished the season at 16-3, the best mark in school history. UMKC improved to 12-12 with the win.
Tennis Match Results
UMKC vs Southern Utah
Apr 22, 2011 at Fort Wayne, IN
UMKC 4, Southern Utah 2
Singles competition
1. Ksusha Nazarova (SUU) vs. Eva Dalvai (UMKC) 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
2. Laura Bouet (UMKC) def. Alex Ivanova (SUU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Olia Tatarchenko (SUU) def. Chelsea Horner (UMKC) 6-2, 6-0
4. Kirrily Burden (SUU) def. Suzan Lisenby (UMKC) 6-0, 6-2
5. Jillian Yakominich (UMKC) def. Danica Ingwaldson (SUU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Gabriela Pintos (UMKC) def. Afton Staheli (SUU) 6-4, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Ksusha Nazarova/Olia Tatarchenko (SUU) vs. Eva Dalvai/Chelsea Horner (UMKC) 6-3, unfinished
2. Laura Bouet/Suzan Lisenby (UMKC) def. Kirrily Burden/Alex Ivanova (SUU) 8-3
3. Gabriela Pintos/Jillian Yakominich (UMKC) def. Danica Ingwaldson/Afton Staheli (SUU) 8-4
