Nov. 7, 2009
Junior All-American Kelcy McKenna advanced to the finals as the Sun Devils continued play at the 15th Annual Thunderbird Invitational. Hosted by ASU, several Sun Devils earned wins as they look to conclude the tournament tomorrow.
McKenna, the tournaments No. 1 seed, swept Cal's Stephany Chang in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. The Oregon native lost a tough first set to Tania Mahtani but came out victorious after four tie-breakers in the second and ultimately won the semi-final match 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2. She will compete for the tournament title against Michigan's Denise Muresan.
Nadia Abdala also made it to the semi-finals. The senior picked up a 6-3, 6-4 win over Cal's Annie Goransson in the quarterfinals. Despite putting up a hard fight, she fell 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 to Muresan in the semi-finals. Micaela Hein also fell to Muresan, losing 7-6 (5), 6-2 in her quarterfinal match.
Michelle Brycki dropped her consolation bout to Tayler Davis of Cal. She did not go down easy as the duo battled through six total tie breakers in the match. Ashlee Brown also dropped her consolation match, falling 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3. Amanda Martin won a match against Cal's Catalina Visico 6-3, 6-1. Sianna Simmons fell in her additional match to Paloma Escobedo.
The Sun Devils had a productive day in doubles, with two ASU teams picking up wins. The duo of Hein and Brycki defeated Michigan's team of Muresan and Tatsuno 8-5. McKenna and Brown also earned a doubles win as they handily defeated Kari Wig and Michelle Sulahian, winning 8-1. Simmons and Abdala dropped a close 8-6 match to Radeva and Siwocz of Cal. Martin again teamed up with Ohio State's Kara Cecil. The mix-matched duo dropped their match, 8-3.
Play at the Thunderbird Invitational concludes tomorrow.