[April 7, 2007]

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Southern Arkansas swept its two matches Saturday, winning the Arkansas Tech Tennis Classic held at Old Post Park. The Lady Muleriders shut out University of the Ozarks, 9-0, and followed that up by defeating their host, 6-3.

In the Lady Muleriders’ opening match against Ozarks, Rachel Vinsant and Tami Chadick fought off, and won, a close 9-8 (2) decision over Olivia Fisher and Lea Rana at number one doubles to set the pace for the rest of the contest. At number two, Nelly Tualla and Caitlin Korensek were victorious by an 8-1 margin against Robin Gattis and Brittany Hein, and Aneeka Bhalla and Megan Phinny teamed up to post an 8-0 shutout over Heather Hartlerode and Jessalyn Halsted at three.

In singles play, Vinsant defeated Fisher, 8-1, at one; Tualla won by default over Gattis at two; Chadick came out on top, 8-5, against Rana at three; Bhalla won the four spot by default over Hein; Korensek claimed an 8-3 win against Hartlerode at five; and Phinny defeated Halsted, 8-1, at six.

SAU rode its momentum into the Arkansas Tech contest, again taking all three doubles matches for a solid start. At one, Vinsant and Chadick were 8-0 winners over Karissa Lentz and Puja Paul; Tualla and Korensek handed Tahnee Crous and Kristen Burgess an 8-5 defeat at two; and Bhalla and Phinny took an 8-6 win over Whitney Simmons and Renee Malcuit at three.

Vinsant, Chadick, and Phinny picked up the three wins in singles play for Southern Arkansas. At number one, Vinsant claimed a 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 victory against Crous; Chadick defeated Lentz, 6-3, 6-4, at three; and Phinny took a 7-5, 6-4 decision over Malcuit at six.

Tualla was defeated at number two, 6-3, 6-7 (1) retired, against Paul; Bhalla lost at four by 2-6, 3-6 to Burgess; and Korensek suffered a 4-6, 3-6 setback to Simmons.

Not only did the Lady Muleriders claim the classic championship, but the two wins boosted them back above .500 on the season (11-10), and it gave them their first GSC win (1-2) of the year against the Golden Suns (5-15, 0-4 GSC).

SAU holds its final home contest of the season Monday, hosting Harding in a 1 p.m. conference match. The team will be celebrating senior day as Nelly Tualla will be playing in her final home match.

#SAU#