University of Denver
FIU
Florida International Sweeps Defending Champion Denver, 4-0
4/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 23, 2005
MOBILE, Ala. - No. 3 seed Florida International (16-5) swept the Sun Belt Conference defending champion and No. 2 seed Denver (13-3) in Saturday's women's semi-finals of the 2005 Aéropostale Sun Belt Conference Championships. FIU rallied for the doubles point and won singles matches at No. 1, 2 and 6 top pull the upset. With the win, FIU will advance to face tournament host and No. 1 seed South Alabama (18-5) on Sunday, while the Pioneers will play New Mexico State in the third-place match.
"We have to give Florida International a lot of credit," head coach Dana Young said. "We were up in all three doubles matches, but FIU rallied to get the point and their momentum really carried into the singles matches."
The 48th-ranked Golden Panthers began the match by claiming the hotly contested doubles point over the 46th-ranked Pioneers. FIU's duo of Paula Zabala and Nikkita Fountain outlasted the 27th-ranked team of Yanick Dullens (Susteren, Netherlands) and Suzana Maksovic (Helsingborg, Sweden) 9-8(2) at No. 1 doubles. The twosome of Desanka Jovanovic and Egle Petrauskaite defeated Denver's team of Jenny Trettin (Berlin, Germany) and Barbara Kourim (Dallas, Texas) at No. 2 to gain the important point.
In a matchup of two nationally-ranked singles players, No. 43 Zabala claimed a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 95 Dullens at No. 1 singles. Petrauskaite defeated Maksovic 6-2, 7-6 at No. 2 singles, while Marisana Cutuk deated Mechem 6-4, 6-1 at No. 6 singles.
Denver will face New Mexico State 10 a.m. at the Mobile Tennis Center in the consolation match.
#48 Florida International 4, #46 Denver 0
Singles
1) #43 Paula Zabala (FIU) def. #95 Yanick Dullens (DU) 6-4, 6-4
2) Egle Petrauskaite (FIU) def. Suzana Maksovic (DU) 6-2, 7-6
3) Barbara Kourim (DU) vs. Nikkita Fountain (FIU) DNF
4) Jenny Trettin (DU) vs. Shilla D'Armas (FIU) DNF
5) Rachel Sackmaster (DU) vs. Desanka Jovanovic (FIU) DNF
6) Marijana Cutuk (FIU) def. Marisa Mechem (DU) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles
1) Zabala / Fountain (FIU) def. #27 Dullens / Maksovic (DU) 9-8(2)
2) Jovanovic / Petrauskaite (FIU) def. Kourim / Trettin (DU) 9-7
3) Sackmaster / Mechem (DU) vs. Jovanovic / Cutuk (FIU) DNF
