Shippensburg Puts on Strong Showing at ITA East Regional
Sept. 27, 2004
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - The Shippensburg University women's tennis team hosted the ITA East Regional Tennis Tournament over the weekend and several players put in strong performances. In "A" singles competition, third-seeded junior Lina Pavilionyte (Vilnius, Lithauania/Vilnius Sv. Kristofer) won three matches before losing in the semifinal round.
Pavilionyte defeated Lindsey Wyckoff of Bloomsburg University, 6-3, 6-2, then topped Priya Pachkawde of Kutztown University, 6-2, 7-5. She battled fifth-seeded Claudia Nunez of Adelphi University to a third set after winning the first set, 6-1, then falling 3-6 in the second set. Pavilionyte came back to clinch the tie-breaker, 6-2. In the semifinals, she fell to seventh-seeded Sacha Solomon of Bryant College, 6-4, 7-5.
Several Lady Raiders competed in the "B" singles bracket, including unseeded freshman Shana Ruff (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) who put on a strong showing in her first major tournament. She made it all the way to the quarterfinal round and upset third-seeded Tracy Nissenbaum of Bloomsburg.
Ruff dropped the first set, 7-5, then came back to win, 6-3 in the second, forcing a tiebreaker, which she won, 10-8. However, sixth-seeded Christy Lille of Millersville University defeated Ruff 6-4, 7-5 to eliminate her from the tournament.
After defeating 14th-seed Kathryn Theller of Georgian Court University, 10-1, Ruff defeated Shippensburg junior Danielle Kennedy (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown), 10-2, before upsetting Nissenbaum.
Lady Raider sophomore Melinda Meisel (Jersey Shore, Pa./Jersey Shore) was the fifth-seed in the 62-player bracket and went on to win two matches before being upset by Trish Ubil of Philadelphia University, 6-3, 6-4. She defeated Sasha Garabedian of Bryant, 10-2, and downed the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Rebecca Solorzano, 10-1.
Other notables in the "B" singles competition include Kennedy and freshman Karen Jensenius (York, Pa./Northeastern), who both won their opening rounds. Jenenius defeated Geisha Rodriguez from Adelphi, 10-2, and Kennedy routed Kutztown's Vanessa Walsh, 10-4.
Sophomore Nicole Perguini (Reading, Pa./Holy Name), junior Amanda Fenn (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown) and junior Allison Bollinger (Quarryville, Pa./Solanco) also competed for Shippensburg.
In "A" doubles action, Pavilionyte and Jensenius received a bye in the opening round before losing a tough match to Alex Spence and Alanna Santanello of Bryant, 9-8, 7-3. In the "B" bracket, Meisel and Perugini defeated Crystal Mitchell and Mayeana Kamara 8-0 before losing to Bryant College.
Shippensburg's next scheduled match is at Dickinson College on Wednesday, October 6.
For complete results from the 2004 ITA East Regional hosted by Shippensburg University, click here.
- Lady Raider Tennis -
