Women's Tennis Advances Three to Finals in Chattanooga
10/03/2009 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
Oct. 3, 2009
By Michael Benson
www.SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Two members of the SIU women's tennis team, Vishakha Sheoran and Jessica Flannery, advanced to the finals, while Michela Cruise and Emily Whitney also moved on to the finals Saturday at the Steve Baras Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The SIU men's team also advanced two players to the consolation semi-finals, but both were eliminated late Saturday afternoon.
Sheoran, a native of New Delhi, India, started off the day by earning a win in straight sets over Chattanooga's Jennemieke van der Veek 6-2, 6-1. She will face off with Tess Langerkvist of Kennesaw State Sunday at 9 a.m. for the Gold Flight championship.
Meanwhile, Flannery continued her upset streak in the Lookout Mountain Flight by coming from behind to defeat fourth-seeded Morgan Carney (Kennesaw State) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. The senior will face Jodie Tiley of Tennessee-Martin for the flight title on Sunday.
On the doubles side, the duo of Cruise and Whitney pulled out a tough victory over the top-seeded pair of Agatha Palider and Mackenzie Swindall of KSU, 9-7, in the Blue Doubles Flight. The pair from SIU will match up with UT-Martin's Anna Marie Herbold and Anna Winkelmann Sunday at 8 a.m. for the title.
However, two other members of the women's team came up short in their respective bids for the finals, as Martina Ce was defeated by the host school's Annie Green 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, and Cruise lost to Jennifer Taylor, also of Chattanooga, 6-0, 3-6, 7-5.
"We had a very good day today," women's head coach Audra Nothwehr said. "Emily and Michela really played aggressive in doubles to make the finals.
"Jess and Vishakha made the finals in the singles flights. They are both playing at the top of their games right now."
For the men, Orhan Spahic and Pavlo Buryi both advanced to the consolation semifinals, but were unable to advance to the finals. Spahic faced Jacksonville State's Felipe Watanabe in Flight B1 and fell 6-3, 6-0, while Buryi was bested by Memphis' John Taylor in the Flight C1 consolation semi-finals 6-1, 6-3.
In the other women's match of the day, freshman Jennifer Dien fell to Rafaela Wenzel of Jacksonville State 4-6, 6-3, 1-0(9).
In the third match of the day for the men, Jordan Snyder lost to Clint Johnson of North Alabama 4-6, 6-4, 1-0(2) in Flight B2.
Players Mentioned
