May 22, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Tex. -- The Lady Monarchs battled against the top-ranked and top-seeded women's doubles team in the country today at the 2009 NCAA Tennis Championships, but were unable to come out with a victory as the Fresno State team won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. Senior Charleen Haarhoff and sophomore Nadine Fahoum won the second set against the #1 Bulldogs tandem and closed out an impressive season with a 26-8 overall record.
The Lady Monarchs looked primed for the upset early, as they jumped ahead 2-1 in the first set, but the Fresno State tandem of Renata Kucerkova and Anastasia Petukhova would rally to win the set 6-3.
ODU won the second set with relative ease, jumping ahead 5-2 before taking the victory 6-3.
Then, in third set, the Fresno State tandem took the first game, but ODU tied it up in the second game with Fahoum serving. ODU would also win the next game to pull ahead 2-1 in a very tight third game.
The two teams played to deuce in the fourth, and ODU gained the advantage as Fresno State was unable to return a Haarhoff serve, but then the Bulldogs battled back and took the game and tied it up at two apiece. ODU played a pair of very tough games in the sixth and seventh of the third set, forcing deuce several times, but the Fresno State pair won both to go up 5-2.
The Bulldogs would not look back, winning the final four games to close out the match.
The Colonial Athletic Association First Team doubles tandem, Fahoum and Haarhoff, gave the number one team in the nation a solid run, but were eliminated from the 2009 NCAA Championships. The 26-8 mark in doubles gives Haarhoff a career 95-38 record in doubles action for the Lady Monarchs. Fahoum improved to 54-16 after just two years for ODU.