Lady Tiger junior tennis players Monica Gonzalez-Gordo and Sabrina Lindemann were greedy this weekend.
Both won the singles finals in their respective divisions of the 2001 University of Memphis/Varsity Tennis Shop Invitational, which was held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the U of M tennis courts just outside the Student Recreation and Fitness Center.
Senior Laura Hughes also competed well, placing second in her division.
Head coach Charlotte Peterson said she was pleasantly surprised with the ladies’ play.
“I knew the competition would be stiff,” Peterson said. “I knew (Gonzalez-Gordo and Lindemann) were playing well, but I wasn’t sure if they would win it all.”
On her way to the Flight No. 1 championship, Lindemann defeated Murray State’s Melissa Spencer, 6-2, 6-2 on Friday and Shawny Price of Southern Miss, 6-4,6-2 Saturday. In Sunday’s championship, Lindemann beat Gija Geme of Arkansas State, 7-6, in the first set, before losing, 7-4, in the second. She then came back to win the final set, 6-2.
Gonzalez-Gordo defeated Carmen Torres of Arkansas-Little Rock, 6-1, 6-2 on Friday and beat Julie Siemers of St. Louis, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday.
The Baylor transfer then faced and beat Tennessee Tech’s Ana Maria Cibils in the championship by straight set scores of 6-4, 6-2.
Peterson said both ladies exceeded her expectations by simply outplaying the other teams.
“They’ve been playing as well (this fall) as any team has ever played,” Peterson said. “I thought they would do well, but I wasn’t sure how the other teams would play.”
Hughes, the team’s only senior, matched up against Evansville’s Liz Hedde Friday, beating her, 6-3, 6-2. Saturday she beat Kristen Doyle of St. Louis, 6-1, 6-4 before losing, 6-1, 6-2 to Tennessee Tech’s Karmelina Rivera in the championship match of her division.
Peterson said Hughes came out of a personal slump with her play over the weekend.
“This tournament was great for Laura,” Peterson said. “She had been struggling, but it all came together for her for her over the weekend.”
The team will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., Thursday for the three-day ITA Regional.
Two weeks later, the Tigers will compete in the Conference USA Fall Tournament, which will be held in Fort Worth, Texas.
