Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Middle Tennessee
Georgia State
Blue Raiders' title quest ends in SBC Semifinals
4/20/2013 12:27:00 PM | Women's Tennis
LAFAYETTE, La. - Middle Tennessee women's tennis put together a valiant effort, but fell short in their upset bid of No. 2 seed Georgia State in a 4-0 loss in the Sun Belt Championship Semifinals on Saturday.
The Panthers (8-10) won the first two doubles matches and collected three straight singles victories to advance to the SBC Championship. The Blue Raiders ended its 2013 season with a 12-12 record and its second consecutive appearance in the Sun Belt Semifinals.
Georgia State claimed the first two doubles matches to win the point. Carla Nava and Alexandra Torres fell 8-1 to GSU's Linn Timmermann and Chaimaa Roudami on the third court. The top doubles flight was much closer with Irina Constantinide and Nayara Moraes falling 8-5 to Abigail Tere-Apisah and Masa Grgan.
The Panthers won the first two singles matches. Moraes fell 6-1, 6-0 to GSU's Timmerman on the fourth court. In top singles action, the freshman Constantinide dropped a 6-2, 6-1 match to Tere-Apisah.
GSU completed the sweep with a two-set sweep from Maryna Kozachenko over freshman Alexandra Torres.
Middle Tennessee completed a strong run in the Sun Belt Tournament. In the first round, the Raiders held off an Arkansas State comeback to win 4-3. The Raiders upended No. 3 seed Troy 4-3 to advance to their second consecutive SBC Semifinals.
Georgia State 4, Middle Tennessee 0
Singles competition
1. Abigail Tere-Apisah (GSU) def. Constantinide, Irina (MT) 6-2, 6-1
2. Masa Grgan (GSU) vs. Nomoto, Yuiri (MT) 4-6, 2-1, unfinished
3. Whitney Byrd (GSU) vs. Nagayama, Flavia (MT) 4-6, 4-0, unfinished
4. Linn Timmermann (GSU) def. Moraes, Nayara (MT) 6-1, 6-0
5. Chaimaa Roudami (GSU) vs. Nava, Carla (MT) 6-6, 0-0, unfinished
6. Maryna Kozachenko (GSU) def. Torres, Alexandra (MT) 6-0, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Abigail Tere-Apisah/Masa Grgan (GSU) def. Constantinide, Irina/Moraes, Nayara (MT) 8-5
2. Whitney Byrd/Maryna Kozachenko (GSU) vs. Nomoto, Yuiri/Nagayama, Flavia (MT) 3-5, unfinished
3. Linn Timmermann/Chaimaa Roudami (GSU) def. Nava, Carla/Torres, Alexandra (MT) 8-1
Players Mentioned
