NEW ORLEANS, La. --Freshman Kristin Noble, a graduate of HoustonHigh School and a TSSAA state singles champion, battled back toclinch her No. 6 singles matches in three sets in the final matchof the Lady Tigers' tennis season, Tuesday. With the 4-3 win,Memphis finishes its season 17-7 overall. The 17-wins is thefifth-highest win total in Lady Tiger history.
Playing just her seventh match at No. 6 singles due to an injuryto junior Marlene Dirnstorfer, Noble won her opening set overMarquette's Alexandra Stankovic, 6-2, but Stankovic bounced back totake a close second set, 7-5. But Noble came out in the third anddominated the set, 6-2, to clinch the victory for the Lady Tigers,allowing them to finish in a tie for fifth place on the last day ofthe Conference USA Championships.
"I'm very proud of the team," Head Coach Charlotte Petersonsaid. "We played hard today, this was a really tough andhard-fought match."
Memphis took a 1-0 lead early when seniors Sabrina Lindemann andMonica Gonzalez-Gordo won the No. 1 doubles match, 8-2, and whenNoble and senior Sumitra Rao won the No. 3 doubles match, 8-5.
The lead stretched to 3-0, Memphis, following the win in doublesand wins from seniors Rao and Gonzalez-Gordo, but Marquetteanswered back with wins at No. 5, 1 and 4 singles, respectively, totie the match at three apiece, leaving the No. 6 match betweenNoble and Stankovic to decide the match.
The match is the last of three distinguished Lady Tiger tenniscareers. Lindemann, a two-time all-conference honoree,Gonzalez-Gordo, an all-conference honoree in her only other year asa Lady Tiger, and Rao, who has battled injuries the past twoseasons, have all completed their eligibility with the 2003 season.Lindemann has already completed her undergraduate degree and is inher second semester as a master's degree student at The U of M.
