April 19, 2008

Results

MONROEVILLE, Pa. - Come-from-behind singles wins by junior Joe Becker (Frankfurt, Germany/Ziehen School) and senior Rachel McCullagh (Sugar Land, Texas/John Newcombe) propelled No. 8 seed Saint Louis to a 4-2 win over No. 4 Duquesne Saturday in the consolation bracket of the Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Championship at Club 4 Life.

Saint Louis (13-11), which defeated No. 9 Fordham 4-0 and fell to No. 1 Massachusetts 4-3 on Friday, will play for fifth place Sunday at 7 a.m. (CT). The Billikens' opponent is No. 7 Charlotte, which beat No. 10 George Washington 4-1, lost to No. 2 Temple 4-0 and edged No. 6 Rhode Island 4-3. A fifth-place showing would be SLU's best in the A-10 after the Bills tied for seventh last season and tied for fifth in their initial A-10 campaign two years ago.

Rachael McGowan handed Becker a first-set loss in their No. 4 singles match, but the Billiken junior got off the canvas and registered a 1-6, 6-4 (10-7) triumph. Likewise, McCullagh found herself down a set to Kristin Swenson at No. 6 before storming back for a 3-6, 6-2 (10-3) victory.

The Billikens' other two points also came in singles play. Freshman Hailee Elmore (Springfield, Ill./Springfield) defeated Johanna Bezjak 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2, while senior Tara Grant (Austin, Texas/St. Stephen's) topped Amanda Sailer 6-4, 6-4 at No. 5. Elsewhere, Rebecca Poole was a 6-2, 6-1 winner over freshman Casey Miller (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph's) at No. 3, and senior Amanda Hellberg (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) led Zina Williams 6-3, 5-4 when their No. 1 match was halted.

Grant and McCullagh got past Swenson and Lianna Beuhler 8-5 at No. 3, but Duquesne captured the doubles point with victories at Nos. 1 and 2. Bezjak and McGowan beat Hellberg and Miller 8-1 at No. 1, and Williams and Poole claimed an 8-5 decision over Elmore and Becker at No. 2.

"We take a lot of pride in our doubles, and we're surprised when we don't win the doubles point," head coach Jonathan Zych said. "But our singles play in this tournament has been outstanding, and I'm just as confident in our singles as I am in our doubles. Joe and Rachel had big wins, and Tara continued to build her confidence with another impressive win.

"Charlotte will be a tough opponent, but I believe we have the ability to win at every position," Zych added. "We definitely are peaking at the right time."