Feb. 27, 2011

Final Stats

TROY, Ala. - As the Tulane University women's tennis team has trudged through the first 10 matches of a very challenging spring schedule, head coach Terri Sisk was adamant that her team was much improved even though the Green Wave's record stood at just 3-7.

She believed in her team so much so that after yesterday's narrow 4-3 loss to Georgia State, Sisk commented that "I'm going to feel sorry for the team on the other side of the net when all of this clicks for us, I really will." As the team's bus drove away from the Lunsford Tennis Complex on Sunday afternoon, it was Troy University that Sisk extended her sympathy to as the Green Wave drubbed the home-standing Trojans 7-0. With the win, Tulane improved to 4-7 on the year. Troy, meanwhile, fell to 2-8.

"Today was a pretty convincing winning against a pretty solid Troy team," Sisk said. "I challenged the girls yesterday after our heart-breaking loss to Georgia State to come out today fighting. I challenged them to have a really short memory and to keep fighting for the results that we know we are capable of getting.

"Their resilience was impressive. They came out today and really jumped on them in doubles and that carried over to singles. We didn't really worry about the developmental aspect of tennis today. I just wanted to see how well we could come out of the gate really wanting to prove how good we are, and we executed perfectly in our strategy."

Tulane set the tone for the day early on as Elizabeth Hamlin and Hila Elster defeated Troy's Lyubov Dorofeeva and Olivia Battye 8-3 on Court 3 and the Green Wave tandem of Lindsay Dvorak and Emma Helistén clinched the doubles point with an 8-3 win in No. 2 action over Olfa Dhaoui and Rosaura Ramirez-Vega. Mariam Kurdadze and Emma Levy completed the sweep for the Wave with an 8-6 decision over Karoline Grymel and Leonie Guijt on Court 1.

With the outcome already decided, Elster contributed to the Tulane cause with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ramirez-Vega on Court 5 and Dvorak posted a 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 score against Guijt on Court 2. Kurdadze completed Tulane's perfect afternoon with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Grymel in No. 1 single play.

"Anytime you get a 7-0 victory, it's a really good victory," Sisk said. "The girls realized more than anything that we swept Troy in doubles today and won 7-0. Troy swept Georgia State in doubles a couple of days ago and we lost to Georgia State in doubles. It always comes down to who comes out fighting and who shows up.

"What we did today was we finally showed up in both singles and doubles. This was the first really convincing win that we've had all year against a very solid team. Troy just lost to and SEC team 4-3 two weeks ago. I couldn't be any prouder of the team."

The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, March 5, when they take Conference USA opponent UAB at 11 a.m. at the Goldring Tennis Center. Admission to all home Tulane tennis matches is free.

TULANE (4-7) DEFEATS TROY (2-8): 7-0

SINGLES
No. 1: Mariam Kurdadze (Tulane) def. Karoline Grymel (Troy) - 7-5, 6-4
No. 2: Emma Levy (Tulane) def. Olfa Dhaoui (Troy) - 6-0, 6-3
No. 3: Lindsay Dvorak (Tulane) def. Leonie Guijt (Troy) - 7-6 (10-8), 6-3
No. 4: Elizabeth Hamlin (Tulane) def. Lyubov Dorofeeva (Troy) - 6-2, 6-1
No. 5: Hila Elster (Tulane) def. Rosaura Ramirez-Vega (Troy) - 6-1, 6-3
No. 6: Emma Helistén (Tulane) def. Olivia Battye (Troy) - 6-1, 6-2

DOUBLES
No. 1: Mariam Kurdadze / Emma Levy (Tulane) def. Karoline Grymel / Leonie Guijt (Troy) - 8-6
No. 2: Lindsay Dvorak / Emma Helistén (Tulane) def. Olfa Dhaoui / Rosaura Ramirez-Vega (Troy) - 8-3
No. 3: Elizabeth Hamlin / Hila Elster (Tulane) def. Lyubov Dorofeeva / Olivia Battye (Troy) - 8-3

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