April 13, 2003

NEW ORLEANS, La. - - Despite losing its top singles player to a minor injury, the Tulane women's tennis team cruised to a 4-0 win over East Carolina in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championships, held at Tulane's Goldring Tennis Complex, on Sunday.

With the win, Tulane improves to 15-4 overall and advances to the league tournament semifinals for the fifth straight season. In addition to serving as hosts, Tulane is also the tournament's top seed. Ninth-seeded East Carolina drops to 14-8 overall.

Tulane had little trouble in doubles play and captured the opening team point with wins on courts two and three. The Wave tandem of Maria Ivanov and Nancy Kockott cruised to an 8-2 win over the ECU team of Buchanan and Sierpinski at the No. 2 spot. On court three, Erika Valdes and Ana Maria Saaibi added an 8-4 victory for Tulane over the ECU duo of Kohl and Meilicke.

Leading 1-0 at the start of singles, the Wave was forced to shift its line-up after freshman Julie Smekodub, ranked 32nd by the ITA, aggravated a foot injury in doubles play. However, the Wave didn't miss a beat, and fellow freshman Jenny Kuhn, ranked 56th by the ITA, was first off the courts with her 6-1, 6-0 win over Kirstin Buchanan at the No. 1 position. Ana Saaibi gave Tulane a 3-0 lead with her 6-1, 6-0 win over Paulina Sierpinski on court four before Nancy Kockott clinched the match for Tulane with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Emily Kohl at the No. 5 spot.

"This was another good team win today," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "We were able to utilize our depth, which I think is one of our strengths. We had a great crowd again this afternoon and hopefully everyone can join us on their lunch break on Monday for the semifinals."

Tulane will face Houston in one semifinal at 12 p.m. at the Goldring Complex on Monday. The other semifinal will pit second-seeded TCU against No. 6 seed Louisville at 9 a.m. at the Goldring courts.

(1) Tulane 4, (9) East Carolina 0
Conference USA Tournament - Sunday, April 13, 2003 - New Orleans, La. (Tulane)

Doubles
1) # 9 Smekodub/Kuhn (Tulane) vs. Baicu/Jordan (East Carolina), DNF
2) Ivanov/ Kockott (Tulane) def. Buchanan/Sierpinski (East Carolina), 8-2
3) Valdes/Saaibi (Tulane) def. Kohl/Meilicke (East Carolina), 8-4

Singles
1) #56 Jenny Kuhn (Tulane) def. Kirstin Buchanan (East Carolina), 6-1, 6-0
2) Maria Ivanov (Tulane) vs. Lyndall Jordan (East Carolina), DNF
3) # 103 Erika Valdes (Tulane) vs. Raluca Baicu (East Carolina), DNF
4) Ana Saaibi (Tulane) def. Paulina Sierpinski (East Carolina), 6-1, 6-0
5) Nancy Kockott (Tulane) def. Emily Kohl (East Carolina), 6-0, 6-0 - clinched match
6) Lucy Wood (Tulane) vs. Cristina Meilicke (East Carolina), DNF