Smekodub Reaches Semifinals At ITA Southwest Regional
Oct 20, 2002 | Women's Tennis
Oct. 20, 2002
FORT WORTH, Texas - - Tulane women's tennis freshman Julie Smekodub reached the semifinals of the ITA Southwest Regional with a pair of wins over seeded opponents at the Bayard Friedman Tennis Courts at TCU on Sunday.
Smekodub, a true freshman from Brooklyn, N.Y., posted a 6-2, 6-3 win over Texas A&M's 17th-seeded Lauren Walker in the round of 16, before topping LSU's ninth-seeded Rocio Fantilli 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. Smekodub will face Texas' Kendra Strohm in Monday's semifinals. Should she reach the finals, Smekodub will earn a spot in the prestigious ITA National Indoor Championships in Dallas in early November.
Smekodub also reached the semifinals of the doubles draw with fellow Tulane freshman Jenny Kuhn. The duo topped the Texas tandem of Grasic and Strohm in the quarterfinals after having defeated the TCU team of Mancinas and Pierce in the round of 16. The duo will meet the Texas Tech team of Dawson and Tereschenko in the semifinals on Monday.
Tulane sophomore Maria Ivanov reached the round of 16 in the singles draw before bowing out to ninth-seeded Jenny Langer of SMU. She had posted an impressive 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 upset over No. 4 seed Irina Tereschenko from Texas Tech in the round of 32.
The Green Wave duo of Julie Morris and Ana Saaibi reached the quarterfinals of the doubles draw, falling 8-5 to the LSU team of Fantilli and Seaman. The Wave tandem had posted an 8-6 win over Baylor's Balzert and Mulec in the round of 16.
