Jan. 15, 2005

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - University of Tennessee sophomore tennis player Blakeley Griffith (Middleburg, Va. / Loudoun County H.S.) continued her run through the second flight of singles action at the Freeman Memorial Women's Tennis Championships on Saturday, winning a quarterfinal meeting with Megan McGavock of South Carolina, 6-2, 6-3, before falling in a semifinal match-up with Arizona State's Jessica Leitch, 6-3, 6-4.

Griffith teamed up with senior Ashley Robards (Henderson, Ky. / Henderson County H.S.) in doubles play for a semifinal 8-6 victory over Anne Claire Ortiz-Luis and Linda Tempelfelde from the hosts, UNLV. The duo will now face the South Carolina pair of Laura Ganzer and McGavock for the flight championship on Sunday.

Junior Melissa Schaub (Lexington, Ohio / Lexington H.S.) and freshman Bryce Marable (Darien, Ill. / Hinsdale South H.S.) saw their run through the second flight of doubles play end with a semifinal setback to Ganzer and McGavock, 8-1.

In the consolation flight one singles bracket, sophomore Vicky Jones (Tyne & Wear, U.K. / South Tyneside H.S.) topped Cristina Visico of California, 6-2, 6-3. The second flight saw Marable battle back for a clutch 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory over Claire Smith from UNLV in a consolation battle.

In the consolation round of the first flight of doubles action, junior Sabita Maharaj (Gainesville, Fla. / Buccholz H.S.) teamed up with freshman Ghizela Schutte (Ninapark, South Africa / Damelin College) to top South Carolina's duo of Christyn Lucas and Mangda Wojdylo, 8-4. Jones paired with Florida's Nina Suvak to defeat Fallon Koon and Miranda Gutierrez of South Carolina, 8-4.

Additional singles matches saw Maharaj fall to Georgia Bulldog Natalie Frazier, 6-1, 6-4. Schutte defeated South Carolina' Grace Blakely after Blakely retired with Schutte up 1-0 in the first set.

The final day of play begins at 9:30 a.m. PST on Sunday.

The 18th-ranked Lady Vols then open the dual-match portion of their schedule at 1 p.m. on Jan. 22 versus No. 15 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, the site of UT's first and second round victories over Wisconsin and the host Tar Heels in last season's NCAA Tournament. Both were by 4-3 scores and secured Tennessee's eighth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16.

2005 FREEMAN MEMORIAL TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
At Fertitta Tennis Complex, Las Vegas, NV
TEAM KEY
Stanford STAN
Florida UF
UCLA UCLA
Southern California SCAL
Georgia UGA
California CAL
Tennessee UT
South Carolina SCAR
Arizona State ASU
UNLV UNLV

FLIGHT ONE SINGLES
QUARTERFINALS Jan. 15
(SEED) #National Ranking
Lejla Hodzic (STAN) def. (1) #3 Suzi Babos (CAL) 6-3, 6-4
(6) #35 Theresa Logar (STAN) def. (4) #20 Daniela Bercek (UCLA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
(3) #10 Shadisha Robinson (UGA) def. (5) #21 Elena Gantcheva (UNLV) 6-4, 6-4
(8) #41 Whitney Deason (STAN) def. (2) #9 Riza Zalameda (UCLA) 7-5, 7-5

SEMIFINALS Jan. 15
Lejla Hodzic (STAN) def. (6) #35 Theresa Logar (STAN) 6-2, 6-4
(3) #10 Shadisha Robinson (UGA) def. (8) #41 Whitney Deason (STAN) 7-5, 7-5

FLIGHT TWO SINGLES
QUARTERFINALS Jan. 15
Stephanie Kusano (CAL) def. Rebecca Rankin (ASU) 7-5, 6-2
Joanna Kao (STAN) def. Anne Claire Ortiz-Luis (UNLV) 6-2, 6-2
Jessica Leitch (ASU) def. Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) 6-4, 6-3
Blakeley Griffith (UT) def. Megan McGavock (SCAR) 6-2, 6-3

SEMIFINALS Jan. 15
Joanna Kao (STAN) def. Stephanie Kusano (CAL) 6-7, 7-5, 6-1
Jessica Leitch (ASU) def. Blakeley Griffith (UT) 6-3, 6-4

FLIGHT ONE DOUBLES
QUARTERFINALS Jan. 15
#3 Whitney Benik/Lolita Frangulyan (UF) def. Kelley Hyndman/Natalie Frazier (UGA) 9-7
#41 Lejla Hodzic/Whitney Deason (STAN) def. Anca Anastasiu/Judy DeVera (SCAL) 8-3
Shadisha Robinson/Caroline Basu (UGA) def. Elena Gantcheva/Sharon Marin (UNLV) 8-5
#5 Daniela Bercek/Riza Zalameda (UCLA) def.Susanna Babos/Marion Ravelojaona (CAL) 8-3

FLIGHT TWO DOUBLES
SEMIFINALS Jan. 15
Laura Ganzer/Megan McGavock (SCAR) def. Melissa Schaub/Bryce Marable (UT) 8-1
Blakeley Griffith/Ashley Robards (UT) def. Anne Claire Ortiz-Luis/Linda Tempelfelde (UNLV) 8-6

FLIGHT ONE SINGLES CONSOLATION
ROUND TWO Jan. 15
#74 Lolita Frangulyan (UF) def. Sharon Marin (UNLV) 6-2, 6-0
Whitney Benik (UF) def. Chrystyn Lucas (SCAR) 6-1, 6-3
Victoria Jones (UT) def. Cristina Visico (CAL) 6-2, 6-3
Marion Ravelojaona (CAL) def. Gyorgyi Zsiros (UNLV) 6-4, 6-1

FLIGHT TWO SINGLES CONSOLATION
ROUND ONE Jan. 15
PLAY-IN MATCH: Tiffany Lee (CAL) def. Stephanie Serrano (UNLV) 6-3, 6-4
Bryce Marable (UT) def. Claire Smith (UNLV) 1-6, 6-3, 7-6
Tiffany Lee (CAL) def. Grace Blakely (SCAR) 6-2, 6-4
Justine Walsh (SCAR) def. Lisa Lester (UNLV) 6-2, 6-0
Judy DeVera (SCAL) def. Cindy Treber (UNLV) by defualt

FLIGHT ONE DOUBLES CONSOLATION
Jan. 15
Stephanie Kusano /Cristina Visico (CAL) BYE
Sabita Maharaj/Ghizela Schutte (UT) def. Christyn Lucas/Mangda Wojdylo (SCAR) 8-4
Joslynn Burkett/Jessica Leitch (ASU) def. Theresa Logar/Joanna Kao (STAN) 8-6
Alex Liles/Nina Suvak (UF) def. Fallon Koon/Miranda Gutierrez (SCAR) 8-4

FLIGHT TWO DOUBLES CONSOLATION
Jan. 15
Sabrina Capannolo/Rebecca Rankin (ASU) def. Gyorgyi Zsiros/Claire Smith (UNLV) 8-3
Grace Blakely/Justine Walsh (SCAR) def. Jessica Shu/Tiffany Lee (CAL) 9-7

ADDITIONAL SINGLES MATCHES
Jan. 15
Shu (CAL) def. Wojdylo (SCAR) 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
Suvak (UF) def. Burkett (ASU) 6-3, 6-4
Frazier (UGA) def. Maharaj (UT) 6-1, 6-4
Schutte (UT) def. Blakely (SCAR) 1-0 retired
Ganzer (SCAR) def. Basu (UGA) 6-2, 6-2
Capanollo (ASU) def. Gutierrez (SCAR) 6-4, 6-3