Tulane Doubles Team Eliminated from NCAA Tournament
May 24, 2005 | Women's Tennis
May 24, 2005
ATHENS, Ga. - The 2005 women's tennis season came to a close as Tulane's top doubles tandem of Maria and Darya Ivanov was eliminated by Michigan's Michelle DaCosta and Kara Delicata during the opening round of the NCAA Doubles Championship on Tuesday afternoon at Magill Tennis Center.
Facing very windy conditions, the Ivanovs, ranked No. 31 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), held a 5-2 advantage in set one and held off a late rally by the Wolverine duo to claim the opening frame, 6-4, before the 20th-ranked duo from Michigan took the final two sets to end the Tulane pair's season.
"We played some really good tennis at times today, but some lapses in the fundamentals got us in trouble," Tulane coach David Schumacher said. "The other team made enough mistakes that we could have, and probably should have, won the match."
After picking up some momentum late in set one, DaCosta and Delicata took a 4-2 lead in set two, which the Ivanovs matched before the two teams see-sawed into a tie-breaking set. With the score tied at six in the tiebreaker, DaCosta and Delicata won the final two points to even the match at one set apiece.
In the deciding third set, the Ivanov combination took an early 2-0 lead before another comeback was staged by the Michigan duo to take a 4-2 advantage. The Ivanovs, who end the year with a mark of 15-13, rallied but could not overcome the deficit, falling 6-4 in the final frame.
Tulane, currently ranked No. 16 in the nation, closed its 2004-05 season with a 25-6 record, including its third straight Conference USA title and its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Round of 16.
