Smekodub Wins Singles Title At Penn Tournament
Sep 28, 2003 | Women's Tennis
Sept. 28, 2003
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - Tulane women's tennis player Julie Smekodub became the first player to win back-to-back titles at Penn's Cissie Leary Invitational on Sunday.
Smekodub, a sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y., reached the championship with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Penn's Alice Pirsu in the semifinals. Pirsu is ranked 12 in the preseason Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, while Smekodub was ranked 23rd. In the championship match, Smekodub rolled to a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Harvard's Courtney Bergman. Bergman is ranked 25th by the ITA.
Smekodub also teamed with Tulane freshman Darya Ivanov to win the doubles title as well. The duo topped the Minnesota team of Buergis and Reddy in the championship match.
"These are very good results, especially this early in the season," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "Julie is the first player to ever successfully defend the singles title at the Leary Invitational, which will tell you how challenging of a tournament it is. Hopefully we can use the results as momentum throughout the fall season."
Members of the Green Wave women's tennis team will continue action at the USTA $25,000 event in Lafayette, which begins with pre-qualifying on Friday, Oct. 3.
