Thursday, February 21, 2008

SMU tennis teams garner rankings in latest ITA poll

By Pegasus News wire

SMU men's and women's tennis players garnered rankings in the latest ITA poll. The men's team had one single ranked, while the women's team saw a single and a pair ranked.

Robin Fahgen earned a No. 50 singles ranking from the ITA in the latest poll. Fahgen, a native of Smedjebacken, Sweden, has compiled an overall singles record of 7-1 so far this season and upset two nationally-ranked opponents. In his first match of the year, Fahgen knocked off then-No. 24 Kellen Damico of Texas at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0. At Notre Dame, Fahgen bumped off then-No. 11 Brett Helgeson, 6-2, 6-4.

Natalia Bubien picked up a singles ranking of No. 73. Bubien is 5-2 in singles this season, with wins over two nationally-ranked opponents. At Harvard, Bubien started her season by taking down then-No. 52 Beier Ko, 6-2, 7-5. Two weeks later, Bubien knocked off No. 70 Iryna Tkachenko of Oklahoma State, 6-1, 6-7 (8), 6-2, earning her first Conference USA Tennis Player of the Week honors this spring.

The tandem of Kseniia Tokarieva and Nicole Briceno earned a ranking of No. 38 in the country. Tokarieva and Briceno are 6-1 this season, having most recently upset then-No. 21 Elizabeth Plotkin and Ellah Nze of Duke on Feb. 16, 8-7 (8-6). The duo's only loss this season came to Kristen Bleakley and Catherine Grotz of NC State in a hard-fought match, 9-8 (8-6).

The men's tennis team plays host to No. 66 Minnesota on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m. The women's team hosts Conference USA rival Houston on Saturday, Feb. 23 at noon (Highland Park High School) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi Sunday at 11:00 a.m. (Bent Tree Country Club). For the complete schedules and results, log on to SMUMustangs.com.

Source: SMU

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