Air Force Academy
North Dakota
Falcons Sweep a Pair of Matches at Home on Sunday
4/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 11, 2010
The Air Force women's tennis team won won a pair of matches Sunday at the Academy, defeating North Dakota, 7-0, and Mountain West Conference foe Colorado State, 5-2. The victory over CSU was Air Force's first against the Rams since the 2001-02 season and gives the Falcons multiple conference wins in a season for the first time since the '02-03 campaign. With the two wins, Air Force improved to 16-8 overall and 2-3 in Mountain West Conference action.
The Falcons, whose 16 victories are the most in a season since head coach Kim Gidley's initial campaign in 1999 (20 wins), swept all nine matches against North Dakota in the morning. Air Force won all three doubles matches, then did not lose more than four games in any of the six singles matches.
In the afternoon match against the Rams, Air Force won all three doubles matches, including a dominating 8-1 victory by sophomore Tahlia Smoke and freshman Melissa Cecil over Melissa Holzinger and Veronika Wojakowska at the No. 3 spot. Junior Christen Monreal and freshman Hannah Dake took care of Laura Neal and Tori Arneson, 8-5, at the top spot to clinch the doubles point, then sophomore Allie Chermel and freshman Christine Molina pulled out a 9-8 victory over Caitlin Fluegge and Lauren Mulhern at No. 2.
In singles action, Monreal gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead with an impressive, 6-3, 6-1, win over Neal at the No. 1 spot. Holzinger cut the lead in half by downing Molina, 6-4, 6-1 at the No. 4 spot, but Smoke put AFA up 3-1 with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-6 triumph over Arneson at No. 2.
Cecil clinched the win for the Falcons at the No. 5 spot with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Mulhern, while Dake went three sets before beating Fluegge, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 at the No. 3 position. Wojakowska won the No. 6 match for CSU, pulling out a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Cassman.
This was a great day for our team," said Gidley. "We changed our doubles combinations and ended up sweeping the doubles against CSU, giving us great momentum. This was the best doubles we played all year, which is what we are working for this time of year. Monreal set the tone in singles as she came back from 3-0 down in the first set to win the next 11 games and then closed out the second set 6-1. Our hard work is paying off and we are playing with a ton of energy."
Air Force, which is assured its first winning season since 2003, hits the road to San Diego, Calif., next weekend to face San Diego State on Saturday, April 17 and UNLV on Sunday, April 18. Both matches will begin at 10 a.m.
Air Force 7, North Dakota 0
Singles
1. Christen Monreal (AF) def. Katie Callison, 6-1, ret.
2. Tahlia Smoke (AF) def. Erin Kappers, 6-3, 6-1
3. Hannah Dake (AF) def. Hallie Welk, 6-1, 6-1
4. Christine Molina (AF) def. Megan Sween, 6-0, 6-2
5. Melissa Cecil (AF) def. Emma Larson, 6-1, 6-1
6. Sarah Cassman (AF) def. Chelsey Galipeau, 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
1. Monreal / Dake (AF) def. Welk / Kappers, 8-2
2. Molina / Allie Chermel (AF) def. Callison / Larson, 8-1
3. Cecil / Erlyn Rudico (AF) def. Sween / Galipeau, 8-6
Air Force 5, Colorado State 2
Singles
1. Christen Monreal (AF) def. Laura Neal, 6-3, 6-1
2. Tahlia Smoke (AF) def. Tori Arneson, 6-4, 7-6(4)
3. Hannah Dake (AF) def. Caitlin Fluegge, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
4. Melissa Holzinger (CSU) def. Christine Molina, 6-4, 6-1
5. Melissa Cecil (AF) def. Lauren Mulhern, 6-3, 6-4
6. Veronika Wojakowska (CSU) def. Sarah Cassman, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
Doubles
1. Monreal / Dake (AF) def. Neal / Arneson, 8-5
2. Molina / Allie Chermel (AF) def. Fluegge / Mulhern, 9-8(2)
3. Cecil / Smoke (AF) def. Holzinger / Wojakowska, 8-1
Players Mentioned
