| Friday, May 18, 2007 Sunbird's defeated in National Championships 5-3 Link to photos of today What do you say on a day like today? The Sunbirds gave their all, but it was not enough. Sunbirds were defeated 5-3 by four time defending national champs Auburn Montgomery. The win was not accomplished without controversy. Auburn Montgomery made several line-up changes, one of which was an obviously misplacement. Anna Karavayeva walked over Dominika Zuzulova at the number three spot 6-0, 6-0. Zuzulova has not play singles for the last several months. All controversy withstanding the Sunbirds gave Auburn-Montgomery a run for their money. The Sunbird game plan throughout the tournament has been to take at least two of the three doubles and sweep singles one thru three. Auburn-Montgomery, led by Kuervers and Veverkova, decided to interupt that plan. Pandzic and Laib got off to an early 2-0 start, but were slowed down at 4-4. The duo kept it close at 5-5, but sloppy play led it a 5-6 defecit. Pandzic and Laib could not capture match point at 6-6 and eventually lost 8-6. Down 1-2 going into singles, the Sunbirds knew they needed to capture matches 1 thru 4 because of the deep Auburn Montgomery team. Pandzic (1) won easy with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. Karavayeva (3) won easy 6-0, 6-0. Hanner (6) was quickly defeated 0-6, 1-6 by the powerful Lysak. Ferot (5) battled, but could not overcome Pillay for a 3-6, 0-6 loss. Sunbirds down 3-4 with all hope resting on Minova (2) and Laib (4). Minova lost the first set in a 7-5 tie breaker in a great comback, being down 2-5. Angelina's second set was just as intense. After rallying point after point the girls tied up at 4-4, then 5-5, then 6-6. Into the tie-breaker the the standstill continued to 8-8. With two powerful swings Veverkova ended the Sunbirds run for a first ever national championship. Laib in her third set never finished. "We fought really hard, but came up a bit short," said head coach Neil Castro. "Jelena struggled in doubles and we really needed her, but the girls gave it their all." Sunbirds finished the year with a 25-2 season record. Link to: NAIA National Championship information |
|
Sunbirds 3, Auburn Montgomery 5 | ||
| Doubles | ||
| 1 |
8-6 | |
| 2 |
Karavayeva & Minova def. Zuzulova & Dadakhodjaeva (AUM) |
8-4 |
| 3 |
2-8 | |
|
Singles | ||
| 1 |
Jelena Pandzic def. Kamila Dadakhodjaeva (AUM) |
6-2, 6-1 |
| 2 |
Tereza Veverkova (AUM) def. Angelina Minova |
7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) |
| 3 |
Anna Karavayeva def. Dominika Zuzulova (AUM) |
6-0, 6-0 |
| 4 |
Audrey Laib vs. Hannah Kuervers (AUM) |
7-6 (7), 3-6, 1-0 DNF |
| 5 |
Yudeshnee Pillay (AUM) def. Amandine Ferot |
6-3, 6-0 |
| 6 |
Nadia Lysak (AUM) def. Megan Hanner |
6-0, 6-1 |
Today's Photo:
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Mom always said patience is a virtue... with that in mind the Sunbirds praticed the art of patience and capitalized on their moment. Originally schedule to begin their match at 1:00 pm (ET), the Sunbirds started at 6:00 pm due to several rain delays. Only one hour and twenty five minutes later the Sunbirds advanced to Thursday's NAIA Women's Tennis National Semifinal. The Sunbirds will face either fellow GSAC member Azusa Pacific or Freed-Hardeman. Around 12:30 pm the faucet was turned on in the sky and it poured down inches of rain. Play was moved to downtown Mobile Convention Center. Thanks to tireless work the courts were cleared and all women's teams returned to the Mobile Tennis Complex. After a 4-4 tie in first team doubles, Jelena Pandzic and Audrey Liab rallied to finish 8-4... the rest is history. Second team doubles Anna Karavayeva and Angelina Minvoa won 8-0 and third team doubles Megan Hanner and Amadine Ferot won 8-0. Ferot and Hanner clinched the match with 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-0 wins. "We played great today," said head coach Neil Castro. "Tomorrow is going to be a tough match and I know our girls are ready." Play begins on the courts of the Mobile Tennis Complex at 1:00 pm. Link to: NAIA National Championship information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Sunbirds 5, Berry 0 | ||
| Doubles | ||
| 1 | Pandzic & Laib def. Hunter & Llaguno (BU) |
8-4 |
| 2 | Karavayeva & Minova def. Chan & Ruffner (BU) |
8-2 |
| 3 | Hanner & Ferot def. Cobb & Feibelman (BU) |
8-0 |
| Singles | ||
| 1 | Jelena Pandzic vs. Kristin Hunter (BC) |
6-0, 3-0 DNF |
| 2 | Angelina Minova vs. Patricia Llaguno (BC) |
6-1, 1-0 DNF |
| 3 | Anna Karavayeva vs. Anja Chan (BC) |
6-1, 0-1 DNF |
| 4 | Audrey Laib vs. Kirsten Ruffner (BC) |
5-0 DNF |
| 5 | Amandine Ferot vs. Kristin Cobb (BC) |
6-1, 6-1 |
| 6 | Megan Hanner def. Rachel Feibelman (BC) |
6-1, 6-0 |
|
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 |
|
Sunbirds 5, Oklahoma Christian 0 | ||
| Doubles | ||
| 1 | Pandzic & Laib def. Jennifer Le (OCU) & Gabriela Nastasa (OCU) |
8-2 |
| 2 | Karavayeva & Minova def. Audrey Donovan & Leila Keihani (OCU) |
8-1 |
| 3 | Hanner & Ferot def. Tarryn Desouza & L. Rundle (OCU) |
8-2 |
| Singles | ||
| 1 | Jelena Pandzic vs. Jennifer Le (OCU) |
6-0, 5-0 DNF |
| 2 | Angelina Minova def. Gabriela Nastasa (OCU) |
6-0, 6-0 |
| 3 | Anna Karavayeva vs. Audrey Donovan (OCU) |
6-1, 4-1 DNF |
| 4 | Audrey Laib vs. Leila Keihani (OCU) |
4-4 DNF |
| 5 | Amandine Ferot vs. Tarryn Desouza (OCU) |
6-2, 2-0 DNF |
| 6 | Megan Hanner def. Grace Finley |
6-1, 6-1 |
Monday, May 14, 2007
Sunbirds set to face Oklahoma Christian - 2nd Round - 2:30pm
With a 9-0 sweep over Olivet Nazarene, 15th ranked Oklahoma Christian secured a match against the second best team in the country. Fresno Pacific will take on the Lady Eagles tomorrow at 2:30 pm (ET).
The Sunbirds had a first round bye today.
Link to: NAIA National Championship information
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Sunbirds seeded second as expected
It was no surprise that the Fresno Pacific University Sunbirds women's tennis team, recent repeat NAIA Region II champions and last year's national runners-up, are seeded second for the 2007 NAIA National Championship.
The announcement, along with the championship draw was announced today by the NAIA National Office in Olathe, Kansas.
The Sunbirds will face a first round (Monday) bye, then tackle the winner of Oklahoma Christian/Olivet Nazarene Tuesday at 2:30 (ET).
All matches for the championship will be played at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.
