Women's Tennis Downs Dayton at A-10 Women's Tennis Championship

Colonials Claim a Tie for Ninth Place with the Win

Senior Tracy Stecko

April 20, 2008

MONROEVILLE, PA - George Washington, the number 10-seed, defeated No. 11 Dayton in the consolation bracket of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Championship, Saturday afternoon at Club 4 Life in Monroeville, PA. With the win, the Colonials earned a tie for ninth-place in the A-10, a spot they share with Fordham, the ninth-seed in the tournament. Dayton finished tied with No. 12 St. Bonaventure for 11th-place.

In Saturday's match, Dayton started strong and took the doubles point, winning two of the three matches that were completed. Nikki Dzubay and Kelly O'Connell recorded Dayton's first win with an 8-1 victory at No. 2 doubles, over Madhuri Jha and Jennifer Hirsch, while Tracy Stecko and Michele Style fell at No. 3 to give the Flyers and early 1-0 lead in the match. The No. 1 team of Nadia Demidenko and Verena Knoedler was tied, 7-7, when the match was called.

In the singles portion of the match, the Colonials won four of the five matches that were completed to claim the victory, 4-2. Senior Tracy Stecko was leading in the third and deciding set at No. 3 singles when the match was called (6-1, 4-6, 7-6).

GW earned wins from Demidenko in the No. 1 flight (6-1, 6-0), Jennifer Hirsch from the No. 2 position (6-1, 6-0), Verena Knoedler at No. 4 (6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (6)) and Madhuri Jha in the No. 5 singles (6-1, 6-4).

In other tournament action, No. 5 Xavier upset No. 1 Massachusetts to advance to the championship match, where they will face No. 2 Temple. That match was scheduled for Sunday, at 10:30 a.m.

With the win, GW ended their 2007-2008 season with an 8-11 overall record and a 1-4 mark in A-10 Conference play. The Colonials won three of their final four matches overall.

- GW -

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