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Arkansas advances to Elite Eight Published: Friday, May 16, 2008 PRINT E-MAIL TULSA - The Arkansas women's tennis team made history twice Thursday, knocking off second-seeded Georgia 4-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships at the Case Center. The victory sent Arkansas past the round of 16 for the first time in school history, and it marked the first time a No. 2 seed has been beaten at this juncture since the NCAA began seeding the top 16 teams in 1999. "We're doing some really special stuff and it's going in a great direction, and we even think that bigger things are possible at Arkansas," Lady Razorbacks Coach Michael Hegarty said. "We're thrilled to be the in the Elite Eight, but we know there's no team in the tournament that we can't beat." Arkansas, which made its only previous trip to the round of 16 in 1998, next faces seventhseeded UCLA, a 4-0 winner over No. 10 seed USC, at 4 Central on Saturday. Thursday's match was hotly contested from the get-go and featured a handful of dramatic shifts in momentum. Arkansas had won the doubles point in each of its previous two matches against Georgia this season, a victory and a loss, but appeared to be on the verge of falling behind the Bulldogs.
Arkansas' No. 1 team of Aurelija Miseviciute and Ela Kaluder never led their Georgia counterparts, and the No. 2 team of Nanar Airapetian and Maryori Franco trailed 6-4 at one point. Airapetian and Franco rallied, however, and pulled out an 8-6 victory just seconds after Georgia closed out an 8-5 victory at No. 1. Arkansas' No. 3 team of Audrey Bordeleau and Anouk Tigu had secured the first doubles victory, 8-6, less than a minute before the other two matches ended. "I think that really could have given us some unbelievable momentum going into singles," Georgia Coach Jeff Wallace said. Instead, Arkansas got off to a quick start in singles play, taking first-set leads in all six matches. But Georgia, which won the SEC Tournament earlier this month, climbed back into the match by pulling out three first-set victories. "After they played so well in every first set, and we still got three of them, I felt like there was some life there.... I felt like the momentum of the match finally started shifting our way a little bit," Wallace said. Freshman Delia Damaschin gave Arkansas the first singles victory, beating Adrienne Elsberry 6-3, 6-2. Miseviciute, the nation's top-ranked singles player, then downed No. 39 Yvette Hyndman 6-2, 7-6 (1 ) to give Arkansas a 3-0 lead. Miseviciute served for the match at 5-2, but was broken twice before cruising in the tiebreaker. "I just think my game is better for the tie-breaker because I am able to stay consistent," Miseviciute said. "I made her win the points, and on those big points she just happened to miss." Georgia picked up the next two singles matches, at Nos. 4 and 5, setting up a tight finish as play at Nos. 2 and 3 continued. "I had a very strong feeling it was going to go very long and very tight... because both teams are very evenly matched, and both teams are extremely tough," Hegarty said. While Kaluder was trying to even her match with a second-set victory at No. 2, Tigu, a freshman who transferred in January, was locked in a heated battle with Monika Dancevic. Dancevic had beaten Tigu in both previous matches, and took the second set 6-4 after Tigu claimed a 6-1 victory in the first set. Both players questioned line calls by each other throughout the match, making for a tense, emotional setting in the third set. Tigu broke for a 3-1 lead, then watched as Dancevic began to cramp and eventually asked for an injury timeout. Tigu then reeled off three consecutive game victories, closing the match with an ace before sprinting into the arms of Hegarty. "I've only been here for four months, and I haven't had a great semester, so to finish a match like this in this tournament is great," Tigu said. NCAA Women's tennis tournament at Tulsa SINGLES Aurelija Miseviciute, Arkansas def. Yvette Hyndman, 6-2, 7-6 (1 ) Ela Kaluder, Arkansas vs. Kelley Hyndman, Georgia, DNF Anouk Tigu, Arkansas def. Monika Dancevic, Georgia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 Naoko Ueshima, Georgia def. Maryori Franco, Arkansas, 7-5, 6-3 Cameron Ellis, Georgia def. Nanar Airapetian, Arkansas, 7-6 (5 ), 6-1 Delia Damaschin, Arkansas def. Adrienne Elsberry, Georgia, 6-3, 6-2 DOUBLES Kelley Hyndman / Yvette Hyndman, Georgia def. Aurelija Miseviciute / Ela Kaluder, Arkansas, 8-5 Nanar Airapetian / Maryori Franco, Arkansas def. Cameron Ellis / Naoko Ueshima, Georgia, 8-6 Audrey Bordeleau / Anouk Tigu, Arkansas def. Monika Dancevic / Adrienne Elsberry, Georgia, 8-6. Yesterday's Most Popular 1. THE RECRUITING GUY : Future Hog Moss on pace for exceptional season 2. LIKE IT IS : Changing of season has happened for Hogs 3. ARKANSAS BASKETBALL : Wild rides await riveted Pelphrey 4. UA FOOTBALL : Aching RB Smith earns SEC honor as Kentucky nears Today's Most E-mailed 1. ARKANSAS AT KENTUCKY : Severe learning curve 2. LIKE IT IS : Pelphrey starts from scratch in second season |
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