Oct. 8, 2005
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – The New Mexico No. 3 duo of junior Iva Gersic and senior Maja Kovacek ended their run Saturday in the main doubles draw at the Riviera/ITA Tennis Championships as they fell in a hard semifinal match against No. 2 Catrina Thompson and Christian Thompson from Notre Dame, 8-1.
“Unfortunately this was not our day,” said head coach Kathy Kolankiewicz, “and the other team performed absolutely flawlessly. It’s disappointing to end that way but I’m really proud of the girls for what they accomplished here, which was getting to the semifinals qualifying us for the National Indoors.”
Despite the loss, Gersic and Kovacek received a berth into the ITA National Individual Indoor Championships to be held in Columbus, Ohio Nov. 3-6. Last year the duo won the consolation doubles draw after falling in the first round of the main draw.
The women’s tennis team will compete at the ITA Central Region Championships Oct. 19-23 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Gersic, Kovacek and Nora Quintal are in the main singles draw with Ola Abou-Zekry, Lucy Scott and Jennifer Ryba in the qualifying singles. Scott and Abou-Zekry will join the No. 3 doubles team in the main doubles draw.
The invitational will be the last fall event for the Lobos. New Mexico’s regular season begins Jan. 21 in Evanston, Ill. at the Northwestern Invite.
For complete results from the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships and more information on upcoming ITA Championships go to ITA Web site.