Smekodub Reaches Semis At Penn Tournament
Sep 28, 2003 | Women's Tennis
Sept. 28, 2003
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - Tulane women's tennis player Julie Smekodub won a pair of matches at Penn's Lott Courts on Saturday to reach the semifinalsfinals of the Cissie Leary Invitational.
Smekodub, a sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y., had little trouble in either the Round of 16 or the quarterfinals, giving up just three games in the two matches. She opened the day with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Princeton's Stephanie Berg in the Round of 16 before cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Penn's Shelah Chao in the quarterfinals. The tournament's No. 3 seed and defending champion, Smekodub will face top-seeded Alice Pirsu of Penn in Sunday's semifinals.
Fellow sophomore Erika Valdes was not as fortunate in her bid to reach the semifinals, however, as she dropped a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 decision to Old Dominion's Nataly Cahana in the quarterfinals. She had posted a 6-2, 6-4 win over Penn's Nikky Ptak in the Round of 16.
In doubles action, the Tulane team of Smekodub and Darya Ivanov added two wins to reach the tournament's championship match. The duo started with an 8-4 win over the Harvard team of Martire and Wang before adding an 8-6 win over the Penn team of Ptak and Ciochina in the semifinals. Smekodub and Ivanov, the No. 2 seeded doubles team, will face Minnesota's duo of Buergis and Reddy in the finals on Sunday.
Ivanov added a singles win to the Tulane cause in the singles consolation bracket, posting a 6-4, 6-3 win over Columbia's Milena Kachar.
Action continues on Sunday, with the semifinals and finals of the singles draw and the championship match of the doubles draw.
