Sept. 11, 2004

St. Louis, Mo. - The annual Billiken Fall Women's Tennis Classic held Sept. 10-11 was the season opener for Saint Louis U. The Billikens hosted Midwest rivals Bradley and Eastern Illinois in the two day tournament on the SLU campus claiming three title matches.

Sophomore Katerina Lozanova defeated teammate Amanda Hellberg 7-5, 6-3 today in the "A" Singles championship.

"While it is difficult to play teammates in a title match," head coach Jonathan Zych said, "the two women demonstrated their will to win and played a very competitive match."

In the "B" Singles championship, another Billiken pair battled to a 6-4, 0-6, 10-6 finish with Ana Renda earning the title over freshman Tara Grant.

"Ana is such a team leader for us," Zych said. "She's a great team asset with her determined and spirited drive. Tara has a great junior tennis background and is emerging as one of our top doubles players."

The Doubles championship was won by Lozanova/Grant by defeating the Eastern Illinois duo of Sarah Freeman/Sandra Sasidharan 8-6.

"This was a solid team effort for us to make a one-two finish in the singles matches," Zych said. "In the doubles bracket, we had match point a couple of times, but just couldn't pull of the one-two finish there. All in all, this was a fun tournament with some very competitive matches giving us a confidence builder for our next two tournaments."

The Billiken women will participate in the Memphis Invitational Oct. 15-16, in Memphis, Tenn.

Day Two Results:

"A" Flight Singles Play:

Championship Match

Katerina Lozanova (SLU) def. Amanda Hellberg (SLU) 7-5, 6-3

Consolation Match

Sarah Freeman (EIU) def. Sandra Sasidharan (EIU) by default

"B" Flight Singles Play:

Championship Match

Ana Renda (SLU) def. Tara Grant (SLU) 6-4,0-6,10-6

Consolation Match

Ashley Glover (EIU) def. Kathleen Bowen (BU) 6-1,6-2

"A" Flight Doubles Play:

Championship Match

Lozanova/Grant (SLU) def. Freeman/Sasidharan (SLU) 8-6

Montrose/Wood (BU) def. Mambetova/Glover (EIU) 8-6