TCU
ITA All-American Tournament
Harkins and Sydorska earn opening round doubles victory
10/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Oct. 2, 2007
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - The No. 3 seeded TCU women's tennis duo of Macall Harkins and Anna Sydorska scored an opening-round victory on Tuesday in the doubles qualifying draw of the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships.
Harkins and Sydorska, ranked No. 14 nationally, cruised past Caroline Bailly and Maria Mizyuk of Nevada by a score of 8-3 to advance to the second round of the doubles qualifying draw. The Frogs will face Cal Poly's Brittany Blalock and Steffi Wong on Wednesday at 12 p.m. CT.
The Frogs didn't fare as well in singles qualifying action on Tuesday, as all three players were eliminated from action in the first two rounds. Sydorska began with a 7-5, 7-5 win over No. 9-16 Paula Mesterova of Loyola-Marymount before falling in the following round to Furman's Laura Goia 6-2, 4-6, 6-0. Harkins dropped her opening-round match to No. 9-16 Sanaz Marand of North Carolina 6-1, 6-1, while Nina Munch-Soegaard fell to No. 4 Catherine Newman of Vanderbilt 7-6(6), 6-1 in the opening round.
Harkins and Munch-Soegaard would bounce back, winning their opening matches in the consolation draw. Harkins knocked off Taka Bertrand of Vanderbilt, ranked No. 104 nationally, 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the second round. Munch-Soegaard mounted an incredible comeback, defeating Megan Fudge of Illinois 5-7, 7-6(8), 7-5. The Amarillo, Texas, native saved match point in the second set to win the tiebreaker to force a third set. Down 5-0 in the third set, Munch-Soegaard saved eight match points for a total of nine to take the final set and claim the win.
"I couldn't be more proud of how the group fought today," said TCU head coach Jefferson Hammond. "This is the tone the team is setting and if we keep it up we'll have a successful spring season."
Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships
Riviera Tennis Club - Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Singles Qualifying Draw (First Round)
No. 9-16 Sanaz Marand (UNC) def. Macall Harkins (TCU) 6-1, 6-1
Anna Sydorska (TCU) def. No. 9-16 Paula Mesterova (Loyola-Marymount) 7-5, 7-5
No. 4 Catherine Newman (Vanderbilt) def. Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) 7-6(6), 6-1
Singles Qualifying (Second Round)
Laura Goia (Furman) def. Anna Sydorska (TCU) 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
Doubles Qualifying Draw (First Round)
No. 3 Harkins/Sydorska (TCU) def. Bailly/Mizyuk (Nevada) 8-3
Singles Qualifying Consolation Draw (First Round)
Macall Harkins (TCU) def. Taka Bertrand (Vanderbilt) 7-5, 6-1
Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU) def. Megan Fudge (Illinois) 5-7, 7-6(8), 7-5
