Falcons Lose Heartbreaker to Army, 4-3

Feb. 17, 2007

The Air Force women's tennis team came up short against service-academy rival Army for the third straight year, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Black Knights Saturday in West Point, N.Y. With the victory, Army captures the Gideon Cup for the third straight year. Air Force, 4-3 this season, still leads the overall Cup series, 10-7.

Army jumped out to an early 1-0 lead by winning all three doubles matches, two of them by an 8-0 score. Sophomores Christine Abayan and Meghan Kiser played well at the No. 2 posiiton, but fell 8-4 to Sarah Giles-Madden and Jessica Shurtz.

Air Force senior Kelly Morgan evened the match at 1-all with an impressive, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Shurtz at No. 4 singles. Army then won the top two matches to take a 3-1 advantage. Niki Flach downed Falcon senior Karissa Walker, 6-1, 6-3, at the No. 1 spot, while Brooke Jones defeated Abayan, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 2.

The Falcon stormed back to tie the match as junior Lauren Wilson defeated Giles-Madden, 6-1, 6-3, at the No. 3 sopt and freshman Erlyn Rudico took a 6-3, 7-6(4) decision from Bridie Burke at No. 6.

The team match came down to the No. 5 singles match between Kiser and Kristin Beehler. In the best match of the day, Beehler defeated Kiser, 6-4, 7-6(1) to give Army the victory and improve to 2-5 this season.

The Falcons return to action on Sunday, Feb. 18 with matches against Connecticut (9 a.m.) and Fairleigh-Dickinson (4 p.m.).

Army 4, Air Force 3
February 17, 2007
Lichtenberg Tennis Center, West Point, N.Y.

Singles
1. Niki Flach (Army) def. Karissa Walker - 6-1, 6-3
2. Brooke Jones (Army) def. Christine Abayan - 6-3, 6-4
3. Lauren Wilson (AF) def. Sarah Giles-Madden - 6-1, 6-3
4. Kelly Morgan (AF) def. Jessica Shurtz - 6-1, 6-1
5. Kristin Beehler (Army) def. Meghan Kiser - 6-4, 7-6 (1)
6. Erlyn Rudico (AF) def. Bridie Burke - 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Order of Finish - 4, 1, 2, 3, 6, 5

Doubles
1. Flach/Jones (Army) def. Walker/Wilson - 8-0
2. Giles-Madden/Shurtz (Army) def. Abayan/Kiser - 8-4
3. Beehler/Paige Ford (Army) def. Morgan/Erika Shortridge - 8-0
Order of Finish - 3, 1, 2

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Players Mentioned

Christine Abayan

Meghan Kiser

Erlyn Rudico

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