• Tennis Home
• |
• Goodfriend Tennis Center
• |
• Coaches
• |
• Archive

Aug. 3, 2009

Alda, who hails from Round Rock, Texas, was absolutely dominant in her return to the Lone Star State. The 5-11 right-hander lost a total of just 10 games in her five-match run to the singles championship. Seeded first overall, Alda opened with back-to-back, 6-1, 6-0, triumphs over Emorie Mallow and St. Edward's Heather Brien to open the competition, which was held at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas.

She then proceeded to take out the fifth-seeded Sheri Olivier from Texas A&M, 6-0, 6-1, in the quarterfinals before downing No. 4-seeded Claire Clark of Louisiana-Monroe, 6-1, 6-1 to advance to the finals. Once again, Alda made quick work of her opponent, defeating another Aggie, the third-seeded Nazari Urbina, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, to claim the tournament's singles title.

Alda was not done yet, however, as she teamed up with Olivier to tackle the doubles draw as well. The second-seeded duo started things off with an 8-2 victory over the Louisiana-Monroe combo of Clark and Danielle Henkel in the Round of 16, before adding an 8-1 win over Francesca Bassoo from Lee College and the University of the Incarnate Word's Adriana Hernandez in the quarterfinals.

Alda and Olivier easily advanced to the finals with a near-perfect 8-1 win over the Texas A&M twosome of Ashley Turpin and Christina Amo, which was seeded fifth. In the finals, Alda and Oliver finally got a bit of a challenge, but were still able to come away with the victory, defeating yet another Aggie pairing, Urbina and Stephanie Davidson, 8-6.

At the UNGC Varsity Tennis Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, meanwhile, Sorbello and Lee were doing their best to keep up with Alda's stellar performance, with Sorbello reaching the finals of the singles draw and the pair of Australians claiming a doubles title of its own.

While Sorbello, a native of Mackay, Australia, advanced to the Round of 16 in the singles draw via a pair of walkovers, Lee was forced to battle through the first two rounds. Following a 6-0, 6-0, blanking of Huntingdon College's Riley Prescott, the Brisbane product was able to take out Devon Sutherland, 6-1, 7-5.

In her first singles match of the tournament, the second-seeded Sorbello easily dispatched future Virginia Tech Hokie Christin Newman, in perfect fashion, 6-0, 6-0. Unfortunately, the Round of 16 marked the end of the road for the ninth-seeded Lee who suffered a 6-0, 6-3, setback at the hands of the top seed, Courtney McLane, a sophomore from the University of Alabama.

In the quarterfinals, Sorbello continued her run with another dominating triumph, taking out No. 7-seed Lindsey Stuckey from Indiana, 6-0, 6-1. Her performance in the semifinals was even better as she recorded her second shutout of the tournament, tallying a 6-0, 6-0, win over East Carolina's Natalie Collins to set up a showdown with McLane. Sorbello was unable to avenge the loss of her teammate, however, as McLane staked claim to the singles title with a 6-4, 6-4, victory.

Although McLane got the best of both of them in singles play, Sorbello and Lee were determined to keep the same from happening in the doubles portion of the competition. The Lady Vol pairing got the ball rolling with a clean, 8-0, sweep in the Round of 16 over Jessica Margolis from Elon and Kendal Drake.

The second-seeded Tennessee tandem then picked up an 8-4 win over the Georgia Tech combo of Hillary Davis and Elizabeth Kilborn before earning a berth in the finals with an 8-1 decision over Katharine Blow from Virginia Tech and Maryland's Maggie Mackeever. As fate would have it, Sorbello and Lee's opponent in the finals would be none other than Alabama's Courtney McLane who had joined up with teammate Taylor Lindsey to form the top-seeded doubles team. As the old saying goes, the third time proved to be the charm for Sorbello and Lee who tallied an easy 8-3 victory to win the tournament's doubles championship.

Alda, Sorbello and Lee will be in action once more before returning to Knoxville for classes, as they will compete in the 2009 ITA National Summer Circuit Championships, Aug. 8-12, at the Indiana University Varsity Tennis Center in Bloomington, Ind.

TEXAS A&M SINGLES DRAW
Round of 32
(1) Rosalía Alda (TENN) def. Emorie Mallow - 6-1, 6-0

Round of 16
(1) Rosalía Alda (TENN) def. Heather Brien (St. Edward's) - 6-1, 6-0

Quarterfinals
(1) Rosalía Alda (TENN) def. (5) Sheri Olivier (TAMU) - 6-0, 6-1

Semifinals
(1) Rosalía Alda (TENN) def. (4) Claire Clark (ULM) - 6-1, 6-1

Finals
(1) Rosalía Alda def. (3) Nazari Urbina (TAMU) - 6-3, 6-2

TEXAS A&M DOUBLES DRAW
Round of 16
(2) Rosalía Alda (TENN)/Sheri Olivier (TAMU) def. Claire Clark/Danielle Henkel (ULM) - 8-2

Quarterfinals
(2) Rosalía Alda (TENN)/Sheri Olivier (TAMU) def. Francesca Bassoo (Lee College)/Adriana Hernandez (Incarnate Word) - 8-1

Semifinals
(2) Rosalía Alda (TENN)/Sheri Olivier (TAMU) def. (5) Ashley Turpin/Christina Amo (TAMU) - 8-1

Finals
(2) Rosalía Alda (TENN)/Sheri Olivier (TAMU) def. (3) Nazari Urbina/Stephanie Davidson (TAMU) - 8-6

UNC-GREENSBORO SINGLES DRAW
Round of 64
(2) Maria Sorbello (TENN) def. Marian Barrett - Walkover
(9) Katie Lee (TENN) def. Riley Prescott (Huntingdon) - 6-0, 6-0

Round of 32
(2) Maria Sorbello (TENN) def. Gabby Gabriel - Walkover
(9) Katie Lee (TENN) def. Devon Sutherland - 6-1, 7-5

Round of 16
(2) Maria Sorbello (TENN) def. (15) Christin Newman (VT) - 6-0, 6-0
(1) Courtney McLane (ALA) def. (9) Katie Lee (TENN) - 6-0, 6-3

Quarterfinals
(2) Maria Sorbello (TENN) def. (7) Lindsey Stuckey (INDIANA) - 6-0, 6-1

Semifinals
(2) Maria Sorbello (TENN) def. Natalie Collins (ECU) - 6-0, 6-0

Finals
(1) Courtney McLane (ALA) def. (2) Maria Sorbello (TENN) - 6-4, 6-4

UNC-GREENSBORO DOUBLES DRAW
Round of 16
(2) Maria Sorbello/Katie Lee (TENN) def. Jessica Margolis (ELON)/Kendal Drake - 8-0

Quarterfinals
(2) Maria Sorbello/Katie Lee (TENN) def. Hillary Davis/Elizabeth Kilborn (GT) - 8-4

Semifinals
(2) Maria Sorbello/Katie Lee (TENN) def. Katharine Blow (VT)/Maggie Mackeever (MD) - 8-1

Finals
(2) Maria Sorbello/Katie Lee (TENN) def. (1) Courtney McLane/Taylor Lindsey (ALA) - 8-3