Southern Miss
Memphis
Lady Eagles Take Down Memphis, 5-2
4/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 9, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss fought through the flames of a heated rivalry and came out unscathed today as they defeated Conference USA rival Memphis 5-2 at the Southern Miss Tennis Complex.
Southern Miss improves to 11-8 overall on the year with a 2-2 record in conference.
In front of a packed crowd on hand to celebrate the 35th anniversary of women's tennis at Southern Miss and the Centennial Reunion Day for former women's tennis players, coaches, and staff, the Lady Eagles set the tone early against the Lady Tigers winning all three doubles matches in convincing fashion.
The Louisiana duo of senior Lauren Gutterman and redshirt sophomore Stephanie Dellocono built on their record setting doubles careers when they defeated Kelly Gray and Courtney Collins at the No. 2 spot 8-3.
Keeping it in the family, sophomore Elja van Berlo and freshman Vroni van Berlo were locked in a close battle with Ashley Murdock and Marjorie Ondeck at 4-4 before the sisters broke the match wide open. At the No. 1 spot, the sisters took down the visitors 8-5 and secured the first point for Southern Miss.
With two matches completed and Southern Miss up 1-0, both teams rallied around the remaining players on court 3 where juniors Zoe Lee and Shannon Rogers were taking on Amanda Brown and Andrea Argues. The always calm Lee and the vivacious Rogers prevailed to complete the doubles sweep at 8-5.
Following a Centennial ceremony to welcome back six former players and staff members, singles play got under way with both teams looking to finish strong heading into a long weekend of tennis.
Memphis secured their first point of the day at the No. 2 spot when Collins defeated Dellocono 6-3, 6-1 to bring the score to a 1-1 tie.
The elder van Berlo must have seen the defeat of her teammate on the neighboring court and returned the favor by knocking off Ondeck at the No. 3 spot, 6-2, 6-2, to put Southern Miss back on top. The Lady Eagles padded the score when Rogers took down Dara Toulch at No. 6 6-1, 6-1 to put Southern Miss within closing distance of the clinching fourth point.
They didn't have to wait long as their most veteran leader and team captain, Gutterman, stepped up to close out the match. Playing at No. 4, the team's lone captain took down Brown in a hard fought match in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.
With the victory in hand, the remaining singles players were able to play for pride and that is exactly what they did.
At the No. 5 spot, Lee took on Gray and visibly frustrated the young player from Memphis with her consistent play. The British import staged a comeback in the second set and eventually took the match to a super tiebreaker, finishing the match 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (10-8).
Arguably the best match of the day came at the top of the lineup where the young freshman van Berlo took on Murdock. With each player taking a set, a long super tiebreaker ensued but Southern Miss was unable to secure a sixth point as van Berlo fell 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 1-0 (12-10)
Southern Miss will welcome Tulane to their home courts on Sunday. Match time is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT at the Southern Miss Tennis Complex.
