Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Air Force
CSU tennis earns victory at last home match of season
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 18, 2009
By Mackenzie Altman
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - - The Colorado State women's tennis team (7-12, 1-6 MWC) ended its home schedule with a victory over the Air Force Falcons (10-16, 0-8 MWC), 6-1. The Rams earned their first conference victory of the season.
"I was really impressed at the way we came out today, especially in singles," said Head Coach Jon Messick. "We closed the match in the first four singles. The girls came out today with a lot of focus and intensity and they really took it to Air Force. Air Force is a good team but I was really impressed at our effort today."
In doubles, the Rams won two out of the three positions, and entered singles play with a 1-0 advantage. At No. 1, senior Lauren Strasburger and junior Laura Neal earned a victory against Christine Abayan and Erlyn Rudico, 8-4. Freshman Tori Arneson and sophomore Caitlin Fluegge, playing at No. 2, defeated Katrina Eromin and Sarah Cassman, 8-3.
"I really enjoyed watching the girls play and they weren't going to settle for anything less than a win," said Messick. "We need to bring the same intensity to Wyoming in order to do well tomorrow."
At No. 3, senior Greer Satherlie and junior Kirsten Stople battled it out with Allie Chermel and Christen Monreal. Satherlie and Stople came back from a 5-3 deficit to tie the match 6-6. The match turned into a rallying battle with the Falcons leading the match 7-6. The Rams continued fighting, turning the match into a see-saw deuce battle. The Falcons won the match 8-6.
After the doubles competition, the Rams seniors, Greer Satherlie and Lauren Strasburger, were honored. Messick spoke about each player's accomplishments during her career and presented each with a bouquet of flowers.
In singles, Strasburger earned an easy victory against Abayan at the No. 2 spot, 6-2, 6-3. Strasburger is closing in on the top 10 list for Rams singles players with 55 career singles victories to date. She has 40 doubles wins to her credit, just three short of the top 10 list. Strasburger is currently the No. 1-ranked women's open singles player in the state of Colorado.
At No. 4, Satherlie fought back and forth with Cassman in the first set, taking it into a tiebreaker. Satherlie earned the first set, 7-6 (3) and came out with strong intensity and determination in sweeping the second set 6-0. Satherlie leads the team this year with 17 singles victories and has won 50 singles matches in her career.
At No. 1, Neal defeated Monreal, 6-2, 6-2, in a fast-paced match. Arneson also earned a win against Chermel, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 3 position. At No. 5, Stople struggled against Eromin, who took the victory, 7-5, 6-0.
At No. 6, Fluegge lost the first set to Shannon Young 6-2 but came back to take the match into three sets. Fluegge dominated the second set, 6-3, and earned a victory in the third set, defeating Young 11-9.
The Rams head to Laramie, Wyo., Sunday to take on the Cowgirls. The first serve will be at noon MDT.
Saturday's Results
Doubles:
No. 1: Neal/Strasburger (CSU) def. Abayan/Rudico (Air Force), 8-4
No. 2: Arneson/Fluegge (CSU) def. Cassman/Eromin (Air Force), 8-3
No. 3: Chermel/Monreal (Air Force) def. Satherlie/Stople (CSU), 8-6
Singles:
No. 1: Laura Neal (CSU) def. Christen Monreal (Air Force), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2: Lauren Strasburger (CSU) def. Christine Abayan (Air Force), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3: Tori Arneson (CSU) def. Allie Chermel (Air Force), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4: Greer Satherlie (CSU) def. Sarah Cassman (Air Force), 7-6 (3), 6-0
No. 5: Katrina Eromin (Air Force) def. Kirsten Stople (CSU), 7-5, 6-0
No. 6: Caitlin Fluegge (CSU) def. Shannon Young (Air Force), 6-2, 6-3, 11-9
