Smekodub Reaches Quarterfinals At ITA All-American
Oct 13, 2003 | Women's Tennis
Oct. 13, 2003
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - - Tulane women's tennis player Julie Smekodub reached the quarterfinals of the ITA Riviera All-American, held this past weekend at the Riviera Tennis Club.
Smekodub, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., had an automatic bid into the 32-player main draw. She began the tournament with a 7-5, 7-5 upset over Duke's Amanda Johnson, the tournament's No. 8 seed. She followed that with a 7-6, 7-5 win over Florida's Julie Rotondi in the Round of 32 before dropping a 6-1, 6-4 decision to Stanford's Erin Burdette in the quarterfinals.
Fellow sophomore's Erika Valdes and Jenny Kuhn also competed in the event, starting the competition in the qualifying draw. Valdes won her first match, 6-3, 6-3 over Maryland's Emily Marker before turning in a 6-4, 6-3 win over Wake Forest's Karin Coetzee in the second round. She reached one of eight qualifying matches, where a win would have advanced her to the main draw, but was forced to withdraw from her match against Sacramento State's Anna Eriksson with an injury.
Kuhn was not as fortunate, dropping her opening round match to Clemson's Daniela Alvarez, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3. She did advance to the consolation round, posting a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Minnesota's Angela Buergis before falling 6-4, 6-2 to California's Catherine Lynch.
In doubles action, Kuhn and Smekodub won a pair of matches in the qualifying draw, topping Minnesota's team of Buergis and Reddy in the first round and the San Diego State team of Erichsen and Romero in the second round to reach one of four qualifying match. In that match, they dropped an 8-1 decision to the Vanderbilt team of Schmandt and Tsoubanos that would ultimately win the main draw.
Kuhn and Smekodub did advance to the main draw as a lucky loser (where one team that loses in the qualifying round gets a pass to the main draw) only to lose to Georgia's 5th-ranked team of Cioroch and Robinson. In the main draw consolation round, the Tulane team posted an impressive 8-5 win over the 4th-ranked North Carolina team of Cline and Mojzisa. Kuhn and Smekodub then followed that with an 8-4 win over the Fresno State's eighth-ranked team of Carlotte and Tallo before falling 8-3 to Stanford's No. 1 ranked team of Barnikow and Burdette.
"These are the best results we have ever had at the All-American," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "It is the first time we've ever had more than one player out there and the first time we've had a doubles team. And for Jenny and Julie to beat two Top 10 teams is fantastic."
