TCU Women's Tennis Continues Successful Summer Slate
8/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Aug. 2, 2011
FORT WORTH - TCU incomers Millie Nichols and Kelsey Sundaram claimed the doubles title at the Texas A&M ITA Summer Circuit Event, while Nichols also picked up the singles crown over the weekend at A&M's George P. Mitchell Tennis Center.
Nichols and Sundaram, the tournament's No. 1 seed, cruised through four rounds of play after receiving a bye in the round of 32. In their round of 16 match, the TCU tandem downed Manuela Gomez and Jana van der Walt of Lee College, 8-1. Nichols and Sundaram followed that with an 8-2 dismantling of Stephanie Do (Penn) and Emily Mathis (West Virginia).
In the semifinals, the duo took down Erika Emery, a high school senior, and Micah Hermsdorg (Abilene Christian) by a score of 8-3. Nichols and Sundaram claimed the title with an 8-5 triumph in the finals over Texas Tech's Sam Adams and South Carolina Upstate's Julie Bell.
"We'd never played together before so it was fun," Nichols said. "We had played against each other about four years ago in a junior event. She's a good player who knows what she's doing. It's good because I know she's going to be my teammate and it was obviously fun to win."
Nichols also rolled through the singles bracket, dropping only one set on the way to her second ITA Summer Circuit title of the offseason. After getting a bye as the No. 1 seed in the round of 64, Nichols took down USC Upstate's Bell in the round of 32, 6-0, 6-0.
The Austin, Texas, native continued her solid play in the round of 16 with a 6-0, 6-2 dropping of Lee College's Stephanie Williamson. Nichols followed that with her second 6-0, 6-0 win of the tournament at the expense of Do (Penn).
After her 6-1, 6-4 win over Abilene Christian's Hermsdorf in the championship semifinals, Nichols took a super tiebreaker in the third set before bettering Texas Tech's Adams in the finals, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6).
With the tournament titles, Nichols has claimed two ITA Summer Circuit event singles and doubles titles after winning both brackets at the Collin County Community College event July 17.
In ITF Futures action in Great Britain, TCU junior Olivia Smith advanced through qualifying at a $10,000 event in Chiswick. Smith picked up a 6-2, 6-2 win in the first round of qualifying and followed with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph to punch her ticket to the open draw.
The Bath, England, native worked her way into the round of 16 in the open draw with a 6-4, 1-0 (ret.) in the round of 32 before bowing out of the event in the next round.
ITA Summer Circuit Event - Texas A&M
SINGLES
Round of 64 - Bye
Round of 32 - #1 Millie Nichols (TCU) def. Julie Bell (South Carolina Upstate), 6-0, 6-0
Round of 16 - #1 Nichols def. Stephanie Williamson (Lee College), 6-0, 6-2
Quarterfinals - #1 Nichols def. Stephanie Do (Penn), 6-0, 6-0
Semifinals - #1 Nichols def. Micah Hermsdorf (Abilene Christian), 6-1, 6-4
Finals - #1 Nichols def. #2 Sam Adams (Texas Tech), 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6)
DOUBLES
Round of 32 - Bye
Round of 16 - #1 Millie Nichols/Kelsey Sundaram (TCU) def. Manuela Gomez (Lee College)/Jana van der Walt (Lee College), 8-1
Quarterfinals - #1 Nichols/Sundaram def. Stephanie Do (Penn)/Emily Mathis (West Virginia), 8-2
Semifinals - #1 Nichols/Sundaram def. Erika Emery(N/A)/Micah Hermsdorg (Abliene Christian), 8-3
Finals - #1 Nichols/Sundaram def. Sam Adams (Texas Tech)/Julie Bell (South Carolina Upstate), 8-5
$10,000 ITF Futures - Chiswick, Great Britain
SINGLES QUALIFYING
Round of 32 - Olivia Smith (TCU) def. Emily Dunne (GBR), 6-2, 6-2
Round of 16 - Smith def. Alexandra Zaniewski (GBR), 6-4, 6-4
SINGLES OPEN
Round of 32 - Smith def. Stephanie Vongsouthi (FRA), 6-4, 1-0 (ret.)
Round of 16 - Donna Vekic (CRO) def. Smith, 2-6 2-6
Players Mentioned
