April 22, 2006

Monroeville, Pa. - No. 7 Saint Louis played to a 4-2 win over sixth-seeded George Washington on Saturday at the 2006 Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Tennis Championships at the Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa. The Billikens survived elimination and will now play in the fifth-place match on Sunday against No. 8 Temple. First serve is slated for 9:30 a.m. (CT).

SLU (15-9) outlasted George Washington in what turned out to be a four-hour affair that ended just after midnight local time. Once again, the Billikens demonstrated one of their biggest strengths by claiming the doubles point behind wins from Ana Renda and Amanda Hellberg at No. 2, and Rachel McCullagh and Caitlin Bokulic at No. 3.

Lozanova and Tara Grant both won singles matches at the No. 2 and No. 4 spots, respectively. At No. 6 singles, Jo Becker dropped the first set 2-6, but rallied to win the second set 7-5 and the third set by a 6-1 margin to clinch the win for SLU.

Doubles
1. Anastasia Skavronskaia/Sandra Simunic (GW) def. Katerina Lozanova / Tara Grant (SLU) - 8-5
2. Ana Renda / Amanda Hellberg (SLU) Kendall Swenson/Tracy Stecko (GW) - 9-7
3. Rachel McCullagh / Caitlin Bokulic (SLU) def. Madhuri Jha/Mara Frisch (GW) - 8-5

Singles
1. Skavronskaia (GW) vs. Hellberg (SLU) - 6-3, 1-6, 5-4 (DNF)
2. Lozanova (SLU) def. Swenson (GW) - 6-1, 6-1
3. Simunic (GW) def. Renda (SLU) - 6-1, 6-3
4. Grant (SLU) def. Stecko (GW) - 6-2, 6-1
5. Jha (GW) def. McCullough (SLU) - 6-4, 3-0 (retired)
6. Joe Becker (SLU) def. Frisch (GW) - 2-6, 7-5, 6-1