April 25, 2009
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - It took longer than any other match of the 2009 Southland Conference Women's Tennis Championship had so far, as the 5-hours, 2-minute match brought an end to the Lady Cardinals season with No. 3 UTSA pulling off the upset in a 4-3 win over No. 2 Lamar on Saturday at the HEB Tennis Center.
The decisive match came at No. 2 singles, where Nathalie Wallin met Lamar's Maria Gutierrez. It was only the fitting that the two split the first two sets, winning by a break apiece, and needed a third-set tiebreak to decide a victor. Wallin took the early lead in the tie breaker, winning 7-2 to claim the match-ending win.
Lamar's Manami Kuroda forced the No. 2 match to completion after she gave the Lady Cardinals a win at the fifth position. Just after Lamar ace Mariaryeni Gutierrez claimed the No. 1 matchup with a straight-set victory, Kuroda won a second-set tiebreak 7-5 to make the overall score 3-3.
UTSA got its singles wins at Nos. 3, 4 and 6, in addition to Wallin's at No. 2. Holly Phillips defeated Carla Nava 6-2, 6-1, Monika Drabkova dropped only one game to Manijee Ashrafi and Micaela Silva won by a break in the third set in those matches.
Lamar's other point came from the doubles session. Ashrafi and Salina Aranda won the decisive match at No. 2 after both sides split the other two matches.
"This was a tough loss today," head coach David Wong said. "Both teams played very hard and UTSA has a great team. It's tough to lose a match like this because of the way it ended. Maria (Gutierrez) has been the driving force us all season long and she battled like a champion today. She left everything she had on the court and I'm very proud of her."
The LU women played the two longest matches in the tournament, defeating Texas A&M Corpus Christi in five hours and one minute on Friday. With the loss the Lady Cardinals finish the season with a 17-6 record.
UTSA 4, Lamar University 3
Singles competition:
1. Mariaryeni Gutierrez (LU-W) def. Karen Scida (UTSA-W) 6-1, 6-4
2. Nathalie Wallin (UTSA-W) def. Maria Gutierrez (LU-W) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2)
3. Holly Phillips (UTSA-W) def. Carla Nava (LU-W) 6-2, 6-1
4. Monika Drabkova (UTSA-W) def. Manijee Ashrafi (LU-W) 6-1, 6-0
5. Manami Kuroda (LU-W) def. Caroline Dedering (UTSA-W) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Micaela Silva (UTSA-W) def. Salina Aranda (LU-W) 6-4, 0-6, 6-4
Doubles competition:
1. Mariaryeni Gutierrez/Maria Gutierrez (LU-W) def. Karen Scida/Micaela Silva (UTSA-W) 8-2
2. Manijee Ashrafi/Salina Aranda (LU-W) def. Monika Drabkova/Caroline Dedering (UTSA-W) 8-5
3. Nathalie Wallin/Holly Phillips (UTSA-W) def. Carla Nava/Manami Kuroda (LU-W) 8-3
