Tulane University
TCU
Women's Tennis Wins Conference USA Championship
Apr 15, 2003 | Women's Tennis
April 15, 2003
NEW ORLEANS, La. - - Ana Saaibi clinched Tulane's win for the second straight day to lead the Green Wave to the 2003 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship with a 4-0 win over TCU at the Goldring Tennis Complex on Tuesday.
Tulane, the tournament's top seed, won its second title in the last three seasons and earned Conference USA's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Wave are now 17-4 overall and ranked 28th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll. TCU, the tournament's No. 2 seed and ranked 55th by the ITA, dropped to 11-10 overall with the loss.
Tulane took a 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point, but Nancy Kockott quickly pushed the margin to 2-0 with her 6-1, 6-1 win over TCU's Brenna Shackelford at the No. 6 spot. Erika Valdes increased the Tulane lead to 3-0 when she added a 6-1, 6-3 win over Karla Mancinas at No. 4 singles and Tulane looked well on its way to wrapping up the title.
However, with Tulane up a set on courts one and two and looking to close out the match, TCU fought back to even the score at a set each and were leading in the third set on both courts. The Horned Frog also had posted a win in the first set on court three. But Saaibi pulled out a 7-6, 6-2 win on court five over Iris Jaklin to give Tulane its first C-USA title since the 2001 season.
"If there were a Most Valuable Player award for the entire tournament, it would definitely go to Ana Saaibi," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "Her win clinched our semifinal match against Houston on Monday and she did it again today in the championship match. She played some very inspired tennis, especially in the second set today."
Tulane got a point on the scoreboard early, as the Green Wave won at No. 2 and 3 doubles to claim the opening doubles point. Saaibi and Valdes were first off the courts after cruising to an 8-2 win over the TCU team of Lopez and Mancinas on court 3. Kockott and Maria Ivanov clinched the doubles point with their 8-3 win over Andrade and Shackelford on court 2.
"Our fans really made the difference today," Schumacher said. "We really had a great crown considering the match started in the middle of the day. They were into the match from the start and gave our players a lift. I want to thank everyone for coming out."
(1) Tulane 4, (2) TCU 0 - Championship Match
Conference USA Tournament - Tuesday, April 15, 2003 - New Orleans, La. (Tulane)
Doubles
1) #9 Kuhn/Smekodub (Tulane) vs. #59 Aburto/Perez (TCU), DNF
2) Ivanov/Kockott (Tulane) def. Andrade/Shackleford (TCU), 8-3
3) Valdes/Saaibi (Tulane) def. Lopez/Mancinas (TCU), 8-2
Singles
1) #32 Julie Smekodub (Tulane) vs. Paty Aburto (TCU), DNF
2) #56 Jenny Kuhn (Tulane) vs. Rosa Perez (TCU), DNF
3) Maria Ivanov (Tulane) vs. Gloriann Lopez (TCU), DNF
4) #103 Erika Valdes (Tulane) def. Karla Mancinas (TCU), 6-1, 6-3
5) Ana Saaibi (Tulane) def. Iris Jaklin (TCU), 7-6, 6-2 - clinched match
6) Nancy Kockott (Tulane) def. Brenna Shackelford (TCU) - 6-1, 6-1
