Falcons Fall 5-2 to Wyoming in Regular Season Finale

April 24, 2010

The Air Force women's tennis team closed out its 2010 regular season Saturday with a hard-fought 5-2 loss to the University of Wyoming at the Academy. Freshman Melissa Cecil and junior Sarah Cassman each posted a singles victory for Air Force, winning at No. 5 and 6 singles, respectively. Air Force finished the regular season with a 16-11 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the Mountain West Conference, good for a seventh-place finish in the MWC, while Wyoming improved to 14-7 overall and finished third with a 5-3 mark in league play.

The Cowgirls jumped out to a 1-0 lead by winning two of the three doubles matches. At the top doubles spot, Wyoming's duo of Simona Synkova and Kim van Ginkel posted an 8-6 triumph over Christen Monreal and Hannah Dake. Just seconds later, Wyoming clinched the point when its No. 3 team of Sarah Summerfield and Paloma Navarro defeated Tahlia Smoke and Melissa Cecil at No. 3, 8-6. AFA's No. 2 team of Allie Chermel and Christine Molina rallied from a 4-2 deficit in their tiebreaker against Alexandra Kovacs and Rebecca Berger and won the final fine points to post an 8-7(4) victory.

In singles play, Cecil improved to 28-12 overall and 19-6 this spring with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Sasa Nemcova at No. 5 and Cassman won her 25th singles match with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Navarro at No. 6.

Unfortunately, Wyoming had already clinched the team match with wins at the top four positions, including three of them in three sets. Summerfield downed Monreal, 6-2, 6-3 at the top spot to give Wyoming a 2-0 lead, then Synkova rallied to best Smoke 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 at No. 2. Van Ginkel gave the Cowgirls the victory with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Molina at No. 4 and Berger beat Dake, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 at No. 3.

Air Force, whose 16 victories are the most in one season since winning 20 in 2000, travels to Las Vegas, Nev., next week for the 2010 Mountain West Conference Championships. The Falcons will be the seventh-seed and face No. 2-seed UNLV in the quarterfinals on Thursday, April 29.

Wyoming 5, Air Force 2

Singles
1. Sarah Summerfield (WYO) def. Christen Monreal, 6-2, 6-3
2. Simona Synkova (WYO) def. Tahlia Smoke, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
3. Rebecca Berger (WYO) def. Hannah Dake, 6-2, 6-7(4), 6-3
4. Kim van Ginkel (WYO) def. Christine Molina, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
5. Melissa Cecil (AF) def. Sasa Nemcova, 6-1, 6-0
6. Sarah Cassman (AF) def. Paloma Navarro, 6-4, 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 6

Doubles
1. Synkova / van Ginkel (WYO) def. Monreal / Dake, 8-6
2. Molina / Allie Chermel (AF) def. Kovacs / Berger, 8-7(4)
3. Summerfield / Paloma Navarro (WYO) def. Smoke / Cecil, 8-6
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2

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