March 30, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - Despite finding the momentum early in the match by winning in doubles, the Texas Tech women's tennis team couldn't quite stall the No. 67 Colorado Buffaloes today in singles action, losing 6-1. With the loss the Lady Raiders fall to 2-3 in Big 12 play, 9-7 overall.

The Lady Raiders began the match with promising results securing the doubles point in dramatic fashion. The Buffaloes' took the first match as the No. 1 duo of Camila Belassi and Monica Milewski defeated Tech's team of Janet Durham and Samantha van der Drift, 8-2. The freshman pair of Kelsy Garland and Simone Templeton broke CU's Abbe Probert and Gleisy Torres Torres late in the match, evening the doubles score at one all.

The fate of the doubles point rested on the No. 2 court as Tech's Brenna Jackson and Kerryn Potgieter went head-to-head with Colorado's Melisa Esposito and Franziska Jendrian. Despite falling behind early in the match, the duo made a comeback and pushed CU into a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker the Red Raider pair moved in for the kill 9-7, sinking in their second straight doubles point victory for the Raiders.

Tech looked to carry momentum from doubles into singles, but the Buffaloes came out strong and put the early pressure on the Lady Raiders. Veera Nurmi struck first defeating senior Durham in straight sets, followed by Garland on the next court over falling to CU's Belassi. The Buffaloes heavy-hitter Milewski topped van der Drift on court one, as the Buffalo senior Torres Torres moved in for the clincher over Templeton in the No. 3 spot, 6-4, 6-2.

"Colorado is a very good team," said Head Coach Cari Groce. "We came out with a lot of energy and won the doubles point, but just weren't able to get things going in singles as Colorado executed well and really took it to us. Now we will have a good, hard week of practice as we get ready to return to the road."

Next up, the team travels to Kansas for a pair of matches against both Kansas State and Kansas beginning April 4th.

Colorado - 6
Texas Tech - 1
March 30, 2008
McLeod Tennis Center

Doubles: 1, 3, 2*
1. Belassi/Milewski (CU) def. Durham/van der Drift (TTU); 8-2
2. Jackson/Potgieter (TTU) def. Esposito/Jendrian (CU); 9-8(7)
3. Garland/Templeton (TTU) def. Probert/Torres Torres (CU); 8-6

Singles: 4, 2, 1, 3*, 6, 5
1. Monica Milewski (CU) def. Samantha van der Drift (TTU); 6-2, 6-1
2. Camila Belassi (CU) def. Kelsy Garland (TTU); 6-3, 6-1
3. Gleisy Torres Torres (CU) def. Simone Templeton (TTU); 6-4, 6-2
4. Veera Nurmi (CU) def. Janet Durham (TTU); 6-3, 6-2
5. Franziska Jendrian (CU) def. Kerryn Potgieter (TTU); 5-7, 7-5, 13-11
6. Victoria Almagano (CU) def. Leah Roberts (TTU); 7-6(8), 6-3