Nov. 6, 2006
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Lamar University women's tennis team wrapped up their fall schedule over the weekend, taking part in the Southern Miss Fall Classic in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Lady Cardinals were without the services of their top player Andrea Martinez, but still played well.
The tournament opened play on Friday afternoon for Lamar, when they took on the UAB Blazers in doubles action. The Lady Cards didn't fair too well in their opening matches, as they dropped all three contests.
Tanya Roberts and Manijee Ashrafi were defeated by Julia von Samson and Gulsah Esen 8-6; Pamela Martinez and Maria Gutierrez dropped a thriller to Ornischa Maier-Knapp and Antonia Nugent 9-8 while Manami Kuroda paired up with UAB's Seden Soyalp and was defeated by Annemieke Elsholz and Magdalena Czernik 8-3.
On Saturday the Lady Cards opened the day with doubles action against Southern Miss, before taking on both Troy and USM in singles play.
The Lady Cards dropped both their double matches, as Ashrafi and Roberts were downed 8-6 by Stephanie Dellocono and Lauren Gutterman, while Martinez and Gutierrez were taken down by Grace Kammerer and Ali Blackett 8-5.
In singles play against Troy, the lady Cards picked up one win, with Ashrafi defeating Vieira 6-3, 6-3. Roberts was beaten by Rawia Elsisi 6-2, 6-2, Martinez fell 6-0, 6-2 to Claudia Strauss, Gutierrez lost to Annabelle Bares 6-0, 6-2 and Kuroda was knocked out by line Caroline Jouanin 6-0, 6-1.
In their match against Southern Miss, the lady Cards again picked up one win, with Gutierrez posting a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kammerer. In the other singles matches, Roberts was handed a 6-4, 6-0 loss by Blackett, Martinez was dropped by Dellocono 6-3, 6-1 and Ashrafi lost to Gutterman 6-2, 7-5.
The Lady Cards finished tournament play on Sunday, taking on Troy in doubles play and UAB in singles.
In doubles play Roberts and Ashrafi were taken down by Elsisi and Strauss 8-4 while Gutierrez and Martinez fell to Bares and Viera 8-4.
In the singles action against the Blazers, the Lady Cards picked up one win, as Ashrafi took down Sylap 6-2, 7-5. In other action, Roberts was defeated by Maier-Knapp 3-6, 6-1, 10-4; Gutierrez was knocked out by von Samson 7-6, 5-7, 10-6 and Martinez was handed a 6-0, 4-6, 10-8 loss by Czernik.
The Lady Cardinals will now be off until the beginning of the spring season. Play begins for Lamar on January 20, 2007 when they take on Oral Roberts in Little rock, Ark. at 2 p.m.
