Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Mountain West Conference Championship
Neal wins in singles, but Rams fall in quarterfinal action
4/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 24, 2008
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Colorado State women's tennis team competed in the Mountain West Conference tournament Thursday at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center. Laura Neal captured a singles win for the Rams, but as the No. 7 seed, the Rams fell to No. 2 UNLV, 4-1.
Neal matched up with Kristina Nedeltcheva at the No. 2 position for the second time this season in a rematch of a meeting on April 12 when the Rams took on UNLV in San Diego, Calif., and Nedeltcheva earned a win in straight sets. This time, Neal provided the only win for the Rams, downing Nedeltcheva by a score of 6-4, 6-2. With the win, Neal earned her fourth consecutive singles win and improved to 13-11 on the year.
"She played a real solid match. She came out and played a real clean match," Head Coach Jon Messick commented. "Especially in her second set, she did a great job putting her opponent away."
Lauren Strasburger and Hilary Tyler matched up against No. 37 Elena Gantcheva and Nedeltcheva at the No. 1 doubles position. While the Rams took four games facing their third ranked opponent of the season, the duo ultimately fell 8-4 as UNLV took the doubles point.
"Compared to last time, our doubles effort was better," said Messick. Tyler also faced a ranked opponent in singles as she faced No. 34 Gantcheva, the highest ranked player and Player of the Year in the Mountain West Conference. Retiring during the first set in their last match, Tyler was able to win five games total, but dropped her match at the No. 1 spot.
As the Rams were down 3-1 in the match, Anette Pohjalainen managed to win her first set at the No. 4 spot, 6-3. However, UNLV's Anna Maskaljun answered in the remaining sets to capture the victory over Pohjalainen and clinch the match for the Rebels as they improved to 15-8 on the season.
"We didn't get the result we wanted. But last time we were intimadated and this time everyone had a good frame of mind going in. We competed well and made fewer mistakes this time," commented Messick. "Everybody had a better shot on their court."
No. 2 UNLV will face No. 3 New Mexico in the semifinals on Friday. "It doesn't always show in the score, but it was an improved performance by everybody," said Messick.
The Rams conclude their season with a 9-11 overall record and a 2-7 mark in Mountain West play.
SINGLES
1. No. 34 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) def. Hilary Tyler (CSU) 6-3, 6-2
2. Laura Neal (CSU) def. Kristina Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 6-4, 6-2
3. Nikol Dimitrova (UNLV) def. Lauren Strasburger (CSU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Anette Pohjalainen (CSU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-0
5. Katy Williams (UNLV) vs. Caitlin Fluegge (CSU) 6-4, 2-3, unf.
6. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) vs. Greer Satherlie (CSU) 6-4, 4-1, unf.
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2, 4*
DOUBLES
1. No. 37 Gantcheva/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) def. Strasburger/Tyler (CSU) 8-4
2. Williams/Maskaljun (UNLV) vs. Pohjalainen/Neal (CSU) 6-4, unf.
3. Marin/Razina (UNLV) def. Stople/Seltsam (CSU) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1*
*Clinching point
