Air Force Academy
Montana
Falcons Stop Grizzlies, 6-1
2/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Feb. 5, 2010
The Air Force women's tennis team captured its fourth consecutive victory Friday, defeating the University of Montana, 6-1, at the Academy. With the victory, Air Force improved to 4-1, while the Grizzlies fell to 0-2.
The Falcons jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after AFA's No. 2 doubles team of junior AKtrina Eromin and sophomore Allie Chermel edged UM's duo of Amanda Bran and Lauren Gibson, 9-8, winning the tiebreak, 7-2. The teams split the other two doubles matches, with Montana's Rebecca Bran and Heather Davidson taking the No. 1 match with an 8-4 win over Air Force freshmen Melissa Cecil and Hannah Dake. Senior Christen Monreal and freshman Christine Molina won the No. 3 match for Air Force, beating Constance Alexander and Cara Lehman, 8-2.
"This was a huge win for our team today," said Air Force head coach Kim Gidley. "Montana was a very tough opponent and fought for every point. The match could have gone either way. The difference was that we converted on the big points. The doubles point was huge with Katrina (Eromin) and Allie (Chermel) winning in the tie-breaker for the match and the doubles point."
In singles play, Rebecca Bran downed Monreal, 6-3, 6-4, at the No. 1 spot to even the team match at 1-all, but the Falcons took the next five singles matches, four of them in straight sets. Molina started the run with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Alexander, while Cecil and Amanda Bran had the match of the day at No. 3, with Cecil posting a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory. Dake then took care of Davidson, 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot and sophomore Tahlia Smoke and junior Sarah Cassman handily won the No. 5 and 6 matches, respectively.
"In the singles matches, our three freshmen all had clutch wins for the first set and that helped swing the momentum in our favor.," said Gidley.
Air Force plays two matches at the Academy on Saturday, facing Montana State at 8 a.m. and UMKC at 4 p.m.
Air Force 6, Montana 1
Friday, Feb. 5, 2010
USAFA, Colo.
Singles
1. Rebecca Bran (UM) def. Christen Monreal, 6-3, 6-4
2. Christine Molina (AF) def. Constance Alexander, 7-5, 6-3
3. Melissa Cecil (AF) def. Amanda Bran, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
4. Hannah Dake (AF) def. Heather Davidson, 7-5, 6-3
5. Tahlia Smoke (AF) def. Lauren Gibson, 6-1, 6-1
6. Sarah Cassman (AF) def. Cara Lehman, 6-0, 6-0
Doubles
1. R. Bran / Davidson (UM) def. Dake / Cecil, 8-4
2. Katrina Eromin / Allie Chermel (AF) def. A. Bran / Gibson, 9-8 (2)
3. Monreal / Molina (AF) def. Alexander / Lehman, 8-2
Players Mentioned
