Lady Gyrenes Advance to First Ever Conference Tournament Semis
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The fifth-seeded Ave Maria women’s tennis team upended No. 4. St. Thomas 5-3 to advance to the semifinal round of the 2013 Sun Conference tournament, Friday at the Crotty Tennis Complex on the campus of Embry-Riddle University. The Lady Gyrenes are now 7-6 on the year and advance to face top seed SCAD Savannah at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
AMU had an early advantage as St. Thomas defaulted a No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles, putting the Lady Gyrenes up 2-0. Lexie Hammerquist and Eileen Lee downed Monica Rekkedal and Camille Allen 8-5 at No. 2 doubles, but STU’s Tetiana Kovalska and Brigitte Bustamante topped Heather Esker and Mary Kate Lee 8-3 at the top spot to make the score 3-1 in favor of AMU.
St. Thomas added to its tally when Kovalska and Bustamante notched wins at the first and fourth, positions, respectively. Hamerquist bested Lightfoot 6-4, 6-2 at No. 2 to reclaim the lead for the Lady Gyrenes and Eileen Lee pulled out a three-set (6-2, 4-6, 6-2) win over Allen at No. 5 to clinch the victory for AMU.