NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The University of Memphis women's tennisteam will finish their 2003 season in either a tie for fifth placeor a tie for seventh place following a 4-0 win over No. 8 seed UABMonday. The Lady Tigers improved their record to 16-7 overall,marking just the fifth time in school history the Lady Tigers havehit the 16-win mark.
Memphis used a pair of doubles wins at No. 1 and No. 3 to go up1-0 early in the match. The Lady Tigers then made short work of theLady Blazers, winning the No. 1 singles match 6-1, 6-0 and the No.5 singles match 6-3, 6-1. Senior Sumitra Rao clinched the matchwith a 6-1, 6-4 win at No. 3 singles to advance the Lady Tigers toface the winner of the Charlotte/Marquette match that got underwayat 3 p.m., Monday.
With the loss, UAB finishes tied for 11th with the University ofSouth Florida, who lost to DePaul, 4-2, Monday. Also in theconsolation bracket, Houston will face Louisville, who upendedMemphis in the second round, in a battle for third place.
In the championship bracket, the top two seeds moved easily intothe championship finals as No. 1 seed Tulane blanked No. 3 seedHouston, 4-0, while No. 2 seed TCU swept Louisville, 4-0. Bothprograms are nationally-ranked and Tulane has not given up a pointyet with a pair of 4-0 wins, while Marquette wrestled one matchaway from TCU in a loss.
Tuesday's Schedule is as follows:
Championship Final: No. 1 Tulane vs. No. 2 TCU, noon
Consolation Final: No. 3 Houston vs. No. 6 Louisville, noon
For Tie for 5th Place: No. 4 Memphis vs. WinnerCharlotte/Marquette, 9 a.m.
For Tie for 5th Place: No. 7 DePaul vs. Winner ECU/Cincinnati, 9a.m.
