Published: May 10, 2008 12:05 am            

ISU women's tennis falsl to Vanderbilt in NCAA tourney

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With few exceptions, the Indiana State women’s tennis team got the first punch in against Vanderbilt in the singles and doubles matches at Friday’s NCAA tennis regional.

In almost every case, Vanderbilt stayed calm. And the Commodores’ counter-punch proved too much for the Sycamores to overcome.

The host Commodores, ranked 11th in the nation, came from behind in several matches, ultimately defeating 70th-ranked ISU 4-0 to advance to the championship match of the Vanderbilt Regional at the Currey Tennis Center. Vanderbilt will play fellow Southeastern Conference member Kentucky. The Wildcats beat Boise State 4-1 in the other regional semifinal.

“We knew Vanderbilt was a consistent team. We knew they’d be patient, we knew they’d try to get into our skins and we knew we needed to impose our games to finish points, be aggressive at the net. We did it some, but we came up short at the end of the first sets,” ISU women’s tennis coach Malik Tabet. “Credit to Vanderbilt. They made us play, they made us hit, they made us make mistakes.”

ISU’s No. 1 doubles team of Jennifer Migan and Joanne Schickerling had a hard-fought match with Amanda Taylor-Courtney Ulrey, the 21st ranked doubles team in the nation. Migan and Schickerling were leading 6-5 when the match was abandoned due to ISU (13-7) losses in its other doubles matches, which conceded the doubles point to the Commodores.

ISU’s No. 3 doubles team of Fadzai Masiyazi and Sarah Meghoufel led 3-2 against Caroline Ferrell and Keilly Ulrey, but fell 8-4. Vanderbilt No. 2 doubles team of Taka Bertrand and Catherine Newman controlled the match against Marie Caujolle and Valeriia Petrovych, winning 8-2.

Migan, Schickerling and Petrovych got off to encouraging starts at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 singles respectively. All led at the midway point of their first sets, with varying fates thereafter.

Courtney Ulrey rallied at No. 4 against Petrovych, winning 6-3 in the first set and dominating the second to win 6-2.

Schickerling went to a tiebreaker at No. 3 against Bertrand. Ahead 5-4, Schickerling had some unforced errors and ultimately fell 7-5. She was down in the second set when her singles match was abandoned.

For Migan, her doubles match offered a preview of her No. 1 singles match against Taylor, ranked 17th in the nation.

“When we played them in doubles, I thought [Taylor] was their weakest player. I figured I had nothing to lose, I’m going to go play my game and it worked well. I didn’t have to think too much out there,” Migan said.

It was power vs. power and Migan showed she was worthy, taking a 4-1 lead in the first set. Taylor rallied, but Migan forced some unforced Taylor errors and won the hard-fought first set 7-5, often yelling with delight when scoring a point. Migan was leading the second set 2-1 when the match was abandoned.

“She played a couple of times with [ISU men’s coach] Jonas Piibor, and that really gave her a good rhythm for this match and a good start for Tulsa. She showed she can play with the best in the country,” Tabet said.

Tulsa, Okla., is where the NCAA individual tournament will be later this month. Migan (ranked 114th in the nation) will compete in it and leading against Taylor gave her a boost.

“It’s really good to get that confidence before the nationals. She’s ranked very high up in the nation, so that was good for me,” Migan said. “I played well, but I wasn’t on fire or anything. That’s good, because it shows I can still work on some things and get better for nationals.”

Vanderbilt (19-5) controlled matters elsewhere. Newman was leading Meghoufel 6-1, 4-3 when the match was abandoned. Vanderbilt got its remaining team points at No. 5 singles, where Keilly Ulrey defeated Masiyazi 6-1, 6-1; and at No. 6 singles, where Ferrell beat Caujolle 6-1, 6-4.

It was the first appearance by an ISU team in an NCAA Tournament since 2002. With the success of the women’s team and the third-place Missouri Valley Conference finish by the men, tennis is one of ISU’s strongest sports at present.

“This is one of those major steps in the building of a program and the coaches have done a great job. The student-athletes have done a great job,” said ISU director of athletics Ron Prettyman, who attended the match. “I’m not only proud they made it to this tournament, but they also have a 3.65 GPA [grade-point average] as a team, which is highest in the athletic department. They’re the real true identity of the term student-athlete.”

Migan, Schickerling, Caujolle and Masiyazi all graduate from the team and there was a sense of pride that the Sycamore program has progressed to the point it has under their watch.

“Most of us came here the same year. We struggled for four years together, and then finally, getting where we wanted to be. We’re all so happy with that,” Schickerling said.



NCAA Vanderbilt Regional semifinal

Vanderbilt 4, Indiana State 0

Singles — Jennifer Migan (ISU) was leading Amanda Taylor 7-5, 2-1 when the match was abandoned*; Catherine Newman (VU) was leading Sarah Meghoufel 6-1, 4-3 when the match was abandoned; Taka Bertrand (VU) was leading Joanne Schickerling 7-5, 4-1 when the match was abandoned; Courtney Ulrey (VU) def. Valeriia Petrovych 6-3, 6-2; Keilly Ulrey (VU) def. Fadzai Masiyazi 6-1, 6-1; Caroline Ferrell (VU) def. Marie Caujolle 6-1, 6-4.

Doubles — Migan-Schickerling (ISU) were leading Taylor-C. Ulrey 6-5 when the match was abandoned; Bertrand-Newman (VU) def. Caujolle-Petrovych 8-2; Ferrell-K. Ulrey (VU) def. Meghoufel-Masiyazi 8-4.

Note: When a team reaches the point where its point total in singles or doubles cannot be overcome, all remaining matches are abandoned.

        

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