Oct. 4, 2009
NORFOLK, Va. -- All four Lady Monarch tennis players entered into the 2009 Old Dominion Collegiate Invitational brought home titles this weekend, led by Irina Dementyeva. The sophomore Lady Monarch won her title in the Women's B flight.
Dementyeva faced Mary Washington's Courtney Goimarac in the semifinals on Sunday, winning a 6-1, 6-2 match before advancing to the finals. James Madison's Michelle Nguyen was set to face the Lady Monarch and the two were evenly matched. The first set went in favor of Nguyen, 6-4, before Dementyeva would answer with a 6-3 win in the second set and a 10-8 victory in the tiebreaking third.
In the Women's C draw, rookie Juliana Pires earned her first collegiate tournament title. Pires won in straight sets in both the semifinals and finals, with a 6-2, 6-1 victory against William & Mary's Amanda Morejon and a 6-4, 6-3 win over Drexel's Anahita Jagtiani respectively.
Pires was not the only first year player who won in straight sets, as Diana Ivanova also won in the Women's C draw. Ivanova, after a first round bye, won 7-5, 6-1 in the quarters on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, she won 6-3, 6-3 over Howard's Anne Akhimien to advance to the finals against Delaware's Amanda Halstrom. Ivanova held Halstrom to just one game in each set, winning 6-1, 6-1 for the title.
Finally, the Lady Monarchs got a fourth title from junior Marija Citic. Citic posted a 6-0, 6-1 win over Pittsburgh's Sarah Dieffenback in the semifinals of the Women's D draw and then won 6-3, 6-2 in the finals over James Madison's Kelly Maxwell.
On the men's side, the Monarchs suffered semifinal losses from Krzysztof Muzalewski and Yakov Diskin. Diskin stretched his opponent, Ben Wirth from Liberty, to a 9-7 tiebreaker final, but was unable to get the win. Alfredo Rodriguez won his only Sunday match in the first round of consolations over Hofstra's Ben Thompson-Star, 8-4.
ODU Results:
Women's B-1:
Opening Round - Dementyeva (ODU) def. Foster (NSU) 6-3, 6-1
Quarterfinals - Dementyeva (ODU) def. Gattelaro (Hofstra) 6-3, 6-3
Semifinals - Dementyeva (ODU) def. Goimarac (UMW) 6-1, 6-2
Finals - Dementyeva (ODU) def. Nguyen (JMU) 4-6, 6-3, 1-0 (8)
Women's C-1:
Opening Round - Pires (ODU) def. Evans (Pitt) 6-0, 6-1
Quarterfinals - Pires (ODU) def. Fick (Liberty) 6-3, 5-7, 1-0 (8)
Semifinals - Pires (ODU) def. Surviladze (Campbell) 6-2, 6-1
Finals - Pires (ODU) def. Jagtiani (Drexel) 6-4, 6-3
Women's C-3:
Opening Round - Ivanova (ODU) BYE
Quarterfinals - Ivanova (ODU) def. Klintsevich (Liberty) 7-5, 6-1
Semifinals - Ivanova (ODU) def. Akhimien (Howard) 6-3, 6-3
Finals - Ivanova (ODU) def. Halstrom (Delaware) 6-1, 6-1
Women's D-1:
Opening Round - Citic (ODU) def. Suriben (Navy) 6-0, 6-1
Quarterfinals - Citic (ODU) def. Armitano (Campbell) 6-2, 6-1
Semifinals - Citic (ODU) def. Dieffenbach (Pitt) 6-0, 6-1
Finals - Citic (ODU) def. Maxwell (JMU) 6-3, 6-2
Men's B-1:
Opening Round - Muzalewski (ODU) def. Chiujdea (NJIT) 6-4, 6-4
Quarterfinals - Muzalewski (ODU) def. Hannah (GWU) 7-6 (2), 6-7 (4), 1-0 (5)
Semifinals - Wardell (W&M) def. Muzalewski (ODU) 6-1, 6-2
Men's B-2:
Opening Round - Oakley (ECU) def. Rodriguez (ODU) 6-2, 7-5
Consolation Round - Rodriguez (ODU) def. Thompson-Star (Hofstra) 8-4
Men's C-1:
Opening Round - Diskin (ODU) BYE
Quarterfinals - Diskin (ODU) def. Sobotka (Campbell) 6-3, 6-3
Semifinals - Wirth (Liberty) def. Diskin (ODU) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (7)