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For Immediate Release:
September 30, 2000 Merlini,
Fernandez Star as UTPA Women’s Tennis Wraps Up Play at Lady Cardinal Invite. EDINBURG – Freshmen Celine Merlini and Julie Fife finished third in their brackets, while Merlini and Maria Fernandez teamed to win the Flight A Doubles Title as UTPA wrapped up play at the season-opening Lady Cardinal Invitational on Saturday. Merlini, a freshman from Vevey, Switzerland, suffered her first collegiate loss, to Arina Uratani of Louisiana-Lafayette, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Uratani would go on to win the Flight A Singles title. But Merlini came back to win the third place match, 6-3, 6-1, over Rachel Hatley of Lee College. Fernandez and Merlini rolled to the title in Flight A Doubles, defeating Finkowska and Wentzel of Lamar, 8-0, then edged Uratani and Singh of Louisiana-Lafayette, 9-7, in the final. Fife, a freshman from Los Alamos, New Mexico, also lost her semifinal match in Flight C. Emily Brasher of McNeese State defeated Fife, 6-2, 2-6, 6-1. Fife came back to win the third place match, defeating Elian Rohrbacher of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7-6, 6-3. Eve Nickelson took second in the consolation bracket of Flight B Singles. She defeated Denise Amagan of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7-6, 6-2, in the semifinals. Robin Singh of Louisiana-Lafayette slipped past Nickelson in the consolation final by a 4-6, 6-4, (10-3) count. The Lady Broncs will next take the court on October 13-14 at the Stephen F. Austin Invitational in Nacogdoches, Texas. |