Contact: Renee Adam
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EAST LANSING, Mich. - With seven victories on day two of the Spartan Invitational, the Cleveland State women's tennis team had four players advance to the final matches of their respective draws on Saturday. Mengdi Liu is in the finals of the Draw F singles bracket, while Ellen Folkers is in the backdraw finals of the D Singles bracket and the duo of Alex Power and Maria Lazaris is in the backdraw finals of the B Doubles bracket.
"We had a pretty successful day today, Mengdi was once again our top performer advancing to the finals of her singles draw," interim assistant coach Frank Polito said. "We also had some great doubles wins over UIC and Michigan State today, and it is very exciting to see the team playing so well right now."
Liu, who stands at 2-0 in singles play on the weekend, earned a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Michigan State's Christina Brown to advance to the final match of the Draw F Singles bracket. She will now face Kristine Lindal of IPFW in the championship match tomorrow.
After dropping her opening round match yesterday, Folkers posted a 2-0 record on day two to earn a spot in the backdraw championship match of Flight D. She claimed a walkover win against Signe Lazdina of Akron to begin the day, then posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Claire McNulty of Dayton.
Power also posted a singles victory for CSU on Saturday, earning a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win over Michigan State's Olga Chernova, before falling in the semifinals of the Draw B Singles bracket.
"Alex Power had a good win over Michigan State today and then lost a tough match to IPFW in the semifinals, but it was a great showing for her to make it to the semis of her bracket," Polito said. "Alex Bush and Nicole also made improvements today despite dropping some tough matches."
In doubles action, Power and Lazaris earned two victories on Saturday in the backdraw portion of the Draw B bracket. First they posted a 6-4 victory over Xavier, then earned an 8-6 win over UIC to advance to the backdraw championship match. Power and Lazaris will face a duo from Toledo in the final match tomorrow.
The duo of Alex Bush and Kara Sherwood also posted a doubles victory, claiming an 8-5 win over Michigan State after falling in the quarterfinals of the Draw B Doubles bracket.
Action at the Spartan Invitational will conclude tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 7).
Draw A Singles:
Henestrossa (IPFW) def. Bush (CSU), 1-6, 6-3, 12-10
Draw B Singles:
Power (CSU) def. Chernova (MSU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
Kiefer (IPFW) def. Power (CSU), 7-6, 4-6, 10-5
Draw C Singles:
Pere (PUR) def. Sherwood (CSU), 6-1, 6-1
Sherwood (CSU) def. Hoch (WIS), No Score Available
Draw D Singles:
Meyers (MSU) def. Lazaris (CSU), 6-2, 6-2
Shustova (IPFW) def. Lazaris (CSU), 2-0
Folkers (CSU) def. Lazdina (UA), Walkover
Folkers (CSU) def. McNulty (UD), 6-3, 6-2
Draw E Singles:
Rodriguez (BSU) def. Janek (CSU), 6-4, 6-3
Draw F Singles:
Liu (CSU) def. Brown (MSU), 6-0, 6-4
Draw A Doubles:
Wild/Moore (BSU) def. Folkers/Janek (CSU), 8-4
Lang/Gruber (MSU) def. Folkers/Janek (CSU), 8-4
Draw B Doubles:
Power/Lazaris (CSU) def. Wolf/Patton (XU), 6-4
Power/Lazaris (CSU) def. Sharp/Mebuka (UIC), 8-6
Costea/Rajkovic (UM) def. Sherwood/Bush (CSU), 8-5
Sherwood/Bush (CSU) def. Myers/Herzog (MSU), 8-5
Draw C Doubles:
Liu (CSU)/Terashi (BSU) def. Dennis/Morris (XU), 8-3
