Marshall University Athletics
Herd Tennis Claims MAC Championship Crown
4/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Herd Tennis Claims MAC Championship Crown
4/28/2002
The second-seed Marshall women's tennis team (21-7) used dominating performances in singles and doubles to win the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship with Sunday's 4-0 victory over first-seeded Eastern Michigan(19-4) at the Muncie YMCA Indoor Tennis Center.
"This feels awesome. This weekend was really great," Marshall head coach Laurie Mercer said. "We knew that we had to play really well today. I thought we played our best tennis of the season, from one through six singles and in doubles."
Marshall opened the dual match winning the doubles point. The Herd then posted straight set victories at the Nos. 2, 5 and 6 positions to clinch the crown.
"This feels so good. I'm so proud to be a part of this team," Marshall's lone senior Anna Mitina said. "Everyone came out very focused today and we were tough to beat."
Avenging a regular season loss, Mitina defeated Lisa D'Amelio, the MAC Player of the Year; 6-4, 6-2.
Jessica Johnson was named as the MAC Newcomer of the Year and the tournament banquet on Thursday night.
Marshall now begins preparation for the NCAA Championship, which begins with first round action on either May 11 or 12. On May 2nd at 7 p.m., the NCAA Selection Committee will announce the 64 teams that will compete for the national championship, in addition to the 16 schools that have been awarded subregional sites to play host to the NCAA first and second rounds. The winners from each of those 16 subregionals advance to Palo Alto, Calif., for the remainder of the NCAA Championships, which begins on May 16th.