Temple University Athletics
Women's Tennis Earns Second Seed In Atlantic 10 Championship
4.14.09 | Women's Tennis
April 14, 2009
2009 Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Bracket
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple women's tennis team earned the second seed for the 26th annual Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Championship, to be held April 17-19 at the Club 4 Life in Monroeville, PA. The Owls, who won the 2008 A-10 title, will take on the winner of #7 Duquesne and #10 Fordham on Friday at 3:30 PM.
Temple (15-5) is led by four players who earned all-Atlantic 10 honors last season - juniors Elyse Steiner, Christine Clermont, and Anastasiia Rukavyshnykova and sophomore Lucie Pazderova.
Steiner has won eight straight matches and is 9-7 this spring at the #1 spot. Clermont is 21-5 overall, including a combined 13-4 this spring at #4 and #5.
Rukavyshnykova has won 12 straight matches, is 24-4 overall and 10-2 at #4 this spring. Pazderova has a 8-2 record at #2 and is 17-2 overall. She has won five straight.
Temple, which has won seven straight matches, competed against five conference opponents this spring, compiling a 4-1 record. TU defeated Duquesne (6-1), Saint Joseph's (7-0), George Washington (6-1), and Massachusetts (7-0) and lost to Richmond (6-1) on February 7.
Richmond earned the top seed and is vying for its fifth title in the last six seasons after finishing third a year ago. UR is led by senior Pamela Duran, a three-time All-Conference selection and the Most Outstanding Performer of the 2007 Championship.
In search of its first-ever A-10 title, 2008 runner-up Xavier is seeded third, while Rhode Island comes in at No. 4, its highest-ever seed. URI is anchored by the talented freshman trio of Kristen and Tristany Leikem and Pam Emery, who have combined to win 50 matches in singles action.
The seeds for the Championship are Richmond (first), Temple (second), Xavier (third), Rhode Island (fourth), Charlotte (fifth), Massachusetts (sixth), Duquesne (seventh), Saint Louis (eighth), George Washington (ninth), Fordham (tenth), Dayton (eleventh), Saint Joseph's (twelfth), St. Bonaventure (thirteenth), and La Salle (fourteenth).
Play starts on Friday, April 17, at 8:00 AM, with the final match of the day beginning at 6:00 PM. On Saturday, April 18, play begins at 8:00 AM with the final match slated for 3:30 PM. The fifth-place match of the Atlantic 10 Women's Tennis Championship will commence on Sunday, April 19, at 8:00 AM. The third place and title matches close out the event at 10:30 AM.
