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SPORTS
| October 7, 2003
Women’s Tennis
Lady Mavs find success in Houston,
Calif. matches
The women’s coach says he
doesn’t think the team could get any better.
By Britney
Tabor
The Shorthorn staff
The women’s tennis team is proud of its two successful matches
in Houston and Pacific Palisades, Calif., this weekend.
Five players competed in the University of Houston Cougar Fall Classic
where, in singles, flights were chosen by difficulty. Freshman Monika
Peciulionyte placed first in the women’s Flight A Finals with
scores of 6-3, 4-6 and 6-2, and junior Jitka Vetrovcova placed seventh
in the Flight B finals finishing 5-7, 6-4 and 6-4. In Flight G,
junior Gretal Hach placed first with 6-1, 4-6, and 7-5, while sophomore
Anete Rozkalne finished first in the Flight I finals with 5-7,6-0
and 7-6.
Two other players participated in the Riviera/Intercollegiate Tennis
Association Women’s All-American Championships at UCLA. Freshman
Daniela Novakova and senior Marketa Cizova will compete in the pre-qualifying
tournament for a chance to advance today. The two beat Vanderbilt
University, one of the top teams in the country, 8-6 in their first
doubles competition Saturday. They lost the doubles in the finals,
but one team that was to advance withdrew from the tournament and
UTA was chosen to continue in the pre-qualifying tournament.
Coach Christian Wassmer said he is excited about the women’s
performances in both tournaments. He said he was pleased with how
Peciulionyte won against a nationally ranked tennis player and how
the women are doing in California because this is the furthest the
team has been in that tournament.
“It’s just awesome, and I don’t think now that
the team can be any better,” Wassmer said. “Right now
and overall, the team performance looks really good.”
Peciulionyte, who won in the top flight in Houston, said the tournament
was tough and she was excited about the win. She said that although
the coach was not with them, players did a good job. The tournament
was good for everyone involved, and the team is going to continue
to work hard in upcoming tournaments, she said.
“All the girls were just really good, and you can tell that
we’ve improved over the past few weeks,” Peciulionyte
said. “Without the coach, it was really hard, but our team
was really friendly. Everybody helped each other.”
Players in the ITA tournament were unavailable for comment Monday
afternoon. Results from the doubles competition at the Cougar Fall
Classic were also not available.
The Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships will be
held Oct. 9-12 at the Riviera Tennis Club in California.
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Marketa Cizova is trying to qualify to advance in
the ITA/All-American Championships at UCLA.
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