Women's Tennis enjoys good showing at 2004 Eastern Intercollegiate Championships

9/17-19/04 -- The LIU women's tennis team had its first competition of the season this past weekend at the 2004 Eastern Intercollegiate Championships at the Lichtenberg Tennis Center in West Point, N.Y. The tournament, hosted by Army, was an ITA sanctioned event.

After falling in the main draw of Flight "A", Merve Koksal captured the top honor in the consolution final. The Ankara, Turkey native won three straight matches en route to defeating Albany's Courtney Michaels, 8-1 in the finals.

Newcomer Jessica Loose (Hamburg, Germany), competing in Flight "B", advanced to the final before falling to Binghamton's Jelena Koprivica, 7-5, 6-1. Loose defeated two seeded players, upending number one "B" Flight participant Allison Davidson of St. John's University and the fourth seed Masha Pozar of UMass.

Veronica Apostu-Efremov (Bucharest, Romania) reached the semifinals in Flight "C", falling to Lya Kuchnirovich of Binghamton 6-1, 6-2.

Junior Krystina Bachner (Penfield, N.Y.) also reached the final in her respected flight (D). Bachner blasted fifth-seeded Mary Ford of Army (7-5, 6-1) before besting top-seed Lorel Zamot of Seton Hall in the semifinal round, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 10-5. She fell to #2 Barbora Blahutiakova of St. John's, 7-5, 6-2.

In doubles action, Andrea Pertab (South Ozone Park, N.Y.) and Xenia Roman (Vera Cruz, Mexico) captured the consolation "B" flight. The duo defeated Andrea Lee and Carly Hoffend of Providence College, 8-1. Ellen Anolin (Flushing, N.Y.) and Claudia Arteaga (Cali, Mexico) advanced to the Flight "A" quarterfinals, defeating Kerry Levis and Kim Westcott of Albany, 8-4.

The Blackbirds return to action on Saturday, September 25 hosting Saint Joseph's University at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. at 12:00.