OU Pair Falls to Top-Five Opponent at Nationals

Nov. 6, 2009

NORMAN, Okla.—Sooner duo Ana-Maria Constantinescu and Teona Tsertsvadze fell in the doubles quarterfinals Friday at the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Tennis Championships.

Constantinescu and Tsertsvadze lost to Stanford's Lindsay Burdette and Hilary Barte Friday in the quarters, 8-3. Burdette and Barte are the tournament's No. 2 seed and are also ranked No. 3 nationally in doubles.

Constantinescu also played in the singles consolation round, facing Laura Vallverdu of Miami who is ranked No. 6 nationally. Constantinescu forced a tiebreaker set but eventually lost to Vallverdu, 6-4, 2-6, 6-0.

Six other Sooners began competition at the San Diego State Invitational Friday, OU advanced two pairs in doubles and three players in singles on day one.

Marie-Pier Huet and partner Katelyn Connelly will play in the Double Red semifinals on Saturday, while teammates Tara Eckel and Brittany Parks will play in the Doubles Black semifinals.

Huet and Eckel also picked up wins in singles along with fellow Sooner Kristina Radan. Radan will play in the Singles Black semifinals, Huet will play in the Singles Red semifinals and Eckel will play in the Singles Gold semifinals.

Connelly, Parks and junior Maria Kalashnikova will play in singles consolation after losing in the first rounds.
Kalashnikova will also play in the doubles consolation with partner Radan.

All semifinal rounds begin Saturday at 9 a.m. PST.

For updated results throughout the tournament, check SoonerSports.com.

San Diego State Invitational
Day One Results

Doubles Red
Huet/Connelly (OU) def. Aleksandra Krsljanin/Ashley Anderson (UW), 8-1
Ardies/Smith (UW) def. Kalashnikova/Radan (OU), 8-4

Doubles Black
Parks/Eckel – BYE

Singles Red
Joyce Ardies (UW) def. Maria Kalashnikova (OU), 6-2, 6-0
Marie-Pier Huet (OU) def. Sierra Ellison (SDSU), 6-3, 6-1

Singles Black
Kristina Radan (OU) def. Hannah Holladay (UCI), 6-2, 6-4
Rebecca Kwan (UCI) def. Katelyn Connelly (OU), 6-1, 6-3

Singles White
Emma Cioffi (SDSU) def. Brittany Parks (OU), 6-2, 6-3

Singles Gold
Tara Eckel (OU) def. Justine Perl (USD), 6-1, 6-2