Marshall University Athletics
@Herd_Tennis Finishes in Top 10 on Final Day
10/5/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
BLACKSBURG, Va.- Marshall tennis concluded its final day at the Hokie Fall Invitational in Blacksburg, Va., with intensity, taking fifth, ninth, 10th, and 11th place finishes on Sunday.
Sophomore Rachael Morales (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) pushed through her consolation flight, defeating JMU's Owens 6-3, 6-2 and then trumping Penn State's Blik 6-4, 6-3 to take the fifth place finish in Flight B Singles play. Morales only lost once during her flight; a loss to eventual fourth place finisher Devan McCluskey of Penn State on Saturday.
Lone senior Kai Broomfield (Toronto, Canada) continued through Flight A, defeating JMU's Huie 0-6, 6-1, 6-1 to proceed to the ninth place playoff position. Broomfield faced a tough competitor in JMU's Pinchoff, falling in a grueling 7-5, 7-6, 7-2 battle. Broomfield finished the day 10th overall in Flight A.
Sophomore Anne Gulsrud (Stavenger, Norway) fell to VCU's DeLasa (6-2, 6-4) in Flight C consolation play. DeLasa would go on to take the ninth place finish in the flight. Gulsrud finished 11th in her flight after a dominating 6-0, 6-1 win over Radford's Sarver.
On the doubles spectrum, Broomfield and Morales faced border-rival Morehead State in the ninth place match, defeating the Eagles' Tachovsky/Terashi in a demanding 8-3 set.
Marshall will return to the Old Dominion state this weekend as the squad will participate in the UVa Invitational, beginning on Friday, Oct. 10.
MERCER'S MUSINGS
Head Coach John Mercer...
On the performances of his team today:
"Anne is doing a really good job competing, and she had an excellent win today. Kai did a good job competing too, she just had a tough loss against the JMU girl, who played number one last year. Kai battled on the set points, and I'm confident she will come through next time to close those. Rachael played incredibly well this entire tournament."
Looking back, looking forward:
"We are making great progress. We had a lot of improvements from the first weekend, which is always encouraging. We're doing everything right, and it was a really good last day."
