East Carolina University
SMU
Mustangs Eliminate East Carolina, 4-0
April 22, 2011 | Women's Tennis
April 22, 2011
ORLANDO, Fla. - Second-seeded SMU used three straight-set singles wins and a doubles sweep to post a 4-0 quarterfinal-round victory over East Carolina Friday morning, eliminating the Lady Pirates from the 2011 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship Tournament at the Lake Cane Tennis Center.
The Mustangs (20-4), also ranked No. 33 nationally in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, will advance to the semifinals where they will meet No. 3 Marshall Saturday. Seventh-seeded ECU closed out its seventh consecutive winning season with an 18-9 record.
SMU quickly extended a 1-0 lead after doubles play by capturing three singles matches in convincing fashion. Marta Lesniak and Heather Steinbauer cruised to 6-1, 6-1 and 6-0, 6-1 wins over Jessica Cook and Neena Wanko at the No. 1 and No. 4 positions, respectively. Edyta Cieplucha followed with a 7-5, 6-1 defeat of Natalie Collins at No. 2 to clinch the team triumph.
Lesniak and Aleks Malyarchikova teamed up for an 8-0 victory over Collins and Petra Vogel to open doubles action at No. 1 before Cieplucha and Steinbauer claimed the tally moments later with an 8-2 win over Wanko and Manon Bissat at No. 2.
The No. 3, No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches featuring Vogel, Yilian Zhang and Bissat were discontinued once the Mustangs secured the victory with their fourth point, per tournament policy.
NO. 2 SMU 4, NO. 7 EAST CAROLINA 0
Singles Play
No. 1 - No. 9 Marta Lesniak (SMU) def. Jessica Cook (ECU) 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 - Edyta Cieplucha (SMU) def. Natalie Collins (ECU) 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 - No. 125 Aleks Malyarchikova (SMU) vs. Petra Vogel (ECU) 6-3, 5-3, unfinished
No. 4 - Heather Steinbauer (SMU) def. Neena Wanko (ECU) 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 - Shahzoda Hatamova (SMU) vs. Yilian Zhang (ECU) 6-2, 4-1, unfinished
No. 6 - Kristina Roberts (SMU) vs. Manon Bissat (ECU) 5-7, 5-1, unfinished
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Lesniak/Malyarchikova (SMU) def. Collins/Vogel (ECU) 8-0
No. 2 - Cieplucha/Steinbauer (SMU) def. Bissat/Wanko (ECU) 8-2
No. 3 - Hatamova/Ashley Turpin (SMU) vs. Cook/Zhang (ECU) 6-3, unfinished
Team Records: East Carolina 18-9, SMU 20-4
