Denver Women's Tennis Cruises Into Summit Championship Match

DENVER –- The No. 1 seed and regular-season conference champion University of Denver women’s tennis team advanced to the 2014 Summit League Championship match following a 4-0 victory over South Dakota in the semifinals on Saturday morning at the Gates Tennis Center in Denver.

Sunday’s Summit League Championship match (9 a.m. start) has been moved to Colorado Athletic Club-Monaco, due to the chance of inclement weather.  CAC Monaco is located at 2695 S Monaco Pkwy, Denver, CO 80222.

The Pioneers will battle Fort Wayne on Sunday at approximately 9 a.m., MT for the conference championship and an automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship, which begins May 15.

The Pioneers will be playing in the conference championship game for the second straight season and the fourth time since 2008.  Denver will be looking for its first league tournament crown since 2008, when it captured the Sun Belt Tournament Championship. 

The Pioneers last made the NCAA Tournament in 2009, when they received an at-large bid.

The 2014 NCAA Women’s Tennis Selection Show will air live on NCAA.com on Tuesday, April 29 at 3:30 p.m., MT.

The Pioneers started the day by sweeping the doubles point as both Denver’s No. 1 and No. 3 tandems posted victories.  The No. 1 doubles pairing of Kathryn Hughes (Wrexham, Wales) and Sonja Radosevic (Miami, Fla.) cruised to an 8-1 victory over South Dakota’s Rymma Maslova and Yuliya Sidenko while Natalie Dunn (Fort Collins, Colo.) and sophomore Evy Van Genechten (Antwerp, Belgium) bested Yamini Reddy and Dragana Brankovic 8-3 to clinch the point.

Denver’s domination continued into singles play as it posted victories in the first three matches to close out the overall victory.  Freshman Maureen Slattery (Newport News, Va.) defeated South Dakota’s Rymma Maslova 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 singles, while in the No. 2 flight Denver’s Caroline Schnell (Greenwood Village, Colo.) blanked Milica Pavlovic 6-0, 6-0.

Van Genechten  closed out the match early for Denver with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Brankovic in No. 5 singles action.

The Pioneers were a perfect 6-0 in league play this season improve to 13-8 overall following Saturday’s win.  Denver has won eight of its last nine dual matches entering Sunday’s championship showdown and defeated IPFW 6-1 in the regular-season meeting between the programs on April 18.

Admission and parking is free for all matches at the 2014 Summit League Championships.

Live scoring will be available for the championship matches on Sunday. To get the most up to date tournament information, visit 2014 Summit League Tournament Central.

Follow Sunday's action via Live Scoring at:

http://www.denverpioneers.com/fls/18600/stats/WomensTennis/201314/xlive.htm

Directions to CAC-Monaco

From the north: Take I-25 South to Yale Avenue, take the exit ramp and make a left at the light. Follow Yale Avenue about ¾ mile and CAC Monaco will be on your left. There is additional parking on the other side of the complex.

From the south: Take I-25 North to Yale Avenue, take the exit ramp and make a right at the light.  Follow Yale Avenue about ¾ mile and CAC Monaco will be on your left.  There is additional parking on the other side of the complex.

From Light Rail at DU: Take the Light Rail to Yale Avenue. Once off the train, follow the sidewalk under the I-25 overpass and CAC Monaco will be ¾ mile on your left.

SUMMIT LEAGUE SEMIFINAL RESULTS 

Denver 4, South Dakota 0

Gates Tennis Center, Denver, Colo.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Singles

1. Maureen Slattery (DU) def. Rymma Maslova (USD) 6-1, 6-0

2. Caroline Schnell (DU) def. Milica Pavlovic (USD) 6-0, 6-0

3. Sonja Radosevic (DU) vs. Yuliya Sidenko (USD) 6-2, unfinished

4. Kathryn Hughes (DU) vs. Yamini Reddy (USD) 6-3, unfinished

5. Evy Van Genechten (DU) def. Dragana Brankovic (USD) 6-2, 6-1

6. Charlotte Derbyshire (DU) vs. Nina Barudzic (USD) 6-2, 3-5, unfinished

Order of finish: 2, 1, 5

Doubles

1. Kathryn Hughes/Sonja Radosevic (DU) def. Rymma Maslova/Yuliya Sidenko (USD) 8-1

2. Maureen Slattery/Caroline Schnell (DU) vs. Michelle Elkin/Milica Pavlovic (USD) 6-3, unfinished

3. Natalie Dunn/Evy Van Genechten (DU) def. Yamini Reddy/Dragana Brankovic (USD) 8-3

Order of finish: 1,3

-EXPERIENCE DENVER ATHLETICS-

 

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