East Carolina University
Southern Miss
Lady Pirates Blank USM In C-USA Tourney Opener
April 21, 2011 | Women's Tennis
April 21, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. - Freshmen Manon Bissat and Neena Wanko helped East Carolina survive an early doubles setback with a point-clinching 9-8 pairs victory that sparked three straight-set singles wins and an eventual 4-0 triumph over Southern Miss in first-round action of the 2011 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship Tournament Thursday morning at the Lake Cane Tennis Center.
The seventh-seeded Lady Pirates (18-8) will move on to face No. 2 SMU, which earned a first-round bye, in a match scheduled for 10:00 a.m. (ET) Friday. The 10th-seeded Golden Eagles finished their campaign with an 8-14 record.
After Natalie Collins and Petra Vogel defeated Alex Bradley and Vroni van Berlo 9-7 in a No. 1 matchup to even the doubles slate, Bissat and Wanko needed a 7-3 tie-breaker edge to end an 8-8 deadlock and dismiss Stephanie Dellocono and Elja van Berlo at No. 2 and give ECU a 1-0 lead.
Bissat followed by opening singles play with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Shannon Rogers at No. 6 before Collins and Yilian Zhang tacked on 6-3, 6-0 and 6-2, 6-1 wins against Dellocono and Zoë Lee at No. 2, and No. 5, respectively, to send East Carolina to the league tourney quarterfinals for the fourth-straight year.
Since tournament format policy dictates the stoppage of play once a team clinches its fourth point, the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 matches featuring Jessica Cook, Vogel and Wanko were discontinued.
NO. 7 EAST CAROLINA 4, NO. 10 SOUTHERN MISS 0
Singles Play
No. 1 - Jessica Cook (ECU) vs. Vroni van Berlo (USM) 4-6, 3-1, unfinished
No. 2 - Natalie Collins (ECU) def. Stephanie Dellocono (USM) 6-3, 6-0
No. 3 - Petra Vogel (ECU) vs. Elja van Berlo (USM) 4-6, 4-2, unfinished
No. 4 - Neena Wanko (ECU) vs. Asa Bengtson (USM) 3-6, 5-2, unfinished
No. 5 - Yilian Zhang (ECU) def. Zoë Lee (USM) 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 - Manon Bissat (ECU) def. Shannon Rogers (USM) 6-0, 6-1
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Collins/Vogel (ECU) def. Alex Bradley/V. van Berlo (USM) 9-7
No. 2 - Bissat/Wanko (ECU) def. Dellocono/E. van Berlo (USM) 9-8 (7-3)
No. 3 - Bengtson/Lee (USM) def. Cook/Zhang (ECU) 8-3
Team Records: Southern Miss 8-14, East Carolina 18-8
