Sept. 29, 2009

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Casey Miller reached the semifinals of the singles A draw to highlight the Saint Louis women's tennis team's participation at the University of Kansas Invitational Sept. 25-27.

Miller powered her way past Kuni Dorn of Kansas 6-2, 6-1 and Julia Zubkova of Illinois State 6-2, 6-2. She took the first set in her semifinal match against Kansas' Sara Lazarevic before Lazarevic bounced back to earn a hard-fought 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. Miller finished with a 3-1 singles record by blanking UMKC's Laura Bouet 6-0, 6-0 in the consolation bracket.

"Casey's performance was impressive," head coach Jonathan Zych said. "She played some dominating tennis against good competition."

Sarah Septien and Hailee Elmore won first-round matches in the singles A draw. Septien breezed past UMKC's Eva Dalvai 6-1, 6-1 before falling 6-2, 6-1 to Lazarevic in the quarterfinals. She registered a come-from-behind 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Illinois State's Natalia Lech in the back draw to finish 2-1. Elmore defeated UMKC's Suzan Lisenby 6-1, 6-1 before being edged 6-4, 7-5 by eventual finalist Kate Morozova in the quarterfinals.

Also in the singles A draw, Jenny Nalepa battled Maria Martinez of Kansas in her opening match before succumbing 6-4, 7-5. In the back draw, Nalepa downed Chelsea Horner of UMKC (score unavailable), lost to Zubkova 6-3, 6-4 and beat Lisenby 6-4, 6-1 to finish 2-2.

After receiving a first-round bye, Mia Elmore gained a spot in the singles B semifinals with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 victory over Victoria Khanevskaya of Kansas. Eventual runner-up Franzi Steinhardt of Illinois State topped Elmore 6-4, 6-0, but Elmore finished with a winning record by downing UMKC's Jessica Ball 6-0, 6-1 in the back draw.

Caitlin McKenna went 2-2 in the singles B draw. McKenna fell to Illinois State's Hannah Esker 6-4, 6-2 in the opening round, beat Kate Goff of Kansas (score unavailable) and Maria Occhipinti of Illinois State 6-2, 6-2 in the back draw, and lost 6-2, 6-2 to Khanevskaya.

SLU posted a 3-3 record in doubles action. Hailee Elmore and Miller won twice, defeating Illinois State's Zubkova and Aniko Kiss 8-5 and UMKC's Bouet and Dalvai 8-2. Septien and McKenna were 8-3 winners over Occhipinti and Carmen Peters of Illinois State.

"This tournament was a good test for us, and I'm pleased with the way all our players competed," Zych said. "Combining singles and doubles, we finished 15-11. A winning record is what you like to see at an event like this."