Tulane University
SMU
Women’s Tennis' Season Concludes in First Round of American Conference Championship
Apr 17, 2019 | Women's Tennis
"It was a tough season in a lot of different ways, but I really believe we finished in a positive way because they fought as hard as they could and left it all on the courts," head coach Maria Brito said. "It was really close and could have gone either way, so it really came down to the small details. We're going to continue to work hard, and I'm excited for what lies ahead for us."
Seeded 11th in the tournament draw, the Green Wave (10-14) found themselves in a fierce battle for the doubles point, as the sixth-seeded Mustangs (10-11) pulled ahead early with a win on court three. The nation's 62nd-ranked duo, Elena Muller and Ivone Alvaro responded on court one with a 6-3 win, before court two moved to a tiebreaker. SMU would hold on however, clinching the doubles point with a 7-6(5) victory.
"After we finished, I told Ivone and Elena how proud I am of their achievements and everything they've done for this program," Brito said. "It's going to hard not having them next year, but they've paved the way for the future."
The Mustangs extended their lead to 2-0 with the first singles win of the day on court two, but Alvaro cut the deficit in half with a straight set win of her own, 6-4, 6-4, over Ana Perez-Long on court three.
Muller bounced back from a lost first set on court one to win the second, 7-6(2), against the nation's No. 121 player, but was unable to complete the comeback in a third-set defeat, as SMU pushed its advantage to 3-1 in the overall match.
Tulane kept fighting, as Adelaide Lavery pushed through for a 7-6(3), 7-6(4) victory on court six, to pull the Wave back within one with two matches remaining.
With both remaining matches tied in respective third sets at the time of Lavery's win, Fabrizi was locked in a 4-4 battle on court four, but SMU closed out court five to clinch the match, 4-2.
SMU 4, Tulane 2
Singles competition
1. #121 Vivienne Kulicke (SMU) def. Elena Muller (TLN) 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-0
2. Karina Traxler (SMU) def. Daniela La Fuente (TLN) 6-1, 6-0
3. Ivone Alvaro (TLN) def. Ana Perez-Lopez (SMU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Laura Fabrizi (TLN) vs. S. Monarrez Yesaki (SMU) 6-3, 2-6, 4-4, unfinished
5. Tiffany Hollebeck (SMU) def. Christina Sisti (TLN) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
6. Adelaide Lavery (TLN) def. Avery Aude (SMU) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles competition
1. #62 Ivone Alvaro/Elena Muller (TLN) def. Karina Traxler/Tiffany Hollebeck (SMU) 6-3
2. Ana Perez-Lopez/S. Monarrez Yesaki (SMU) def. Laura Fabrizi/Daniela La Fuente (TLN) 7-6 (7-5)
3. Avery Aude/Vivienne Kulicke (SMU) def. Adelaide Lavery/Christina Sisti (TLN) 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (2,3,1,6,5)
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