GOLDEN SUNS CONCLUDE GSC TOURNAMENT WITH
CONSOLATION SEMIFINAL WIN OVER WEST ALABAMA

        MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Arkansas Tech Golden Suns Tennis concluded play here Friday afternoon in the 2009 Gulf South Conference Tournament by posting a 5-1 win over West Alabama in the consolation semifinal round at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center.

          Tech, who opened the GSC Tournament with a 5-0 loss earlier in the day to fifth-ranked West Florida, won all three doubles matches and posted straight set wins at No. 2 singles from sophomore Saki Matsuoka (Saitama, Japan) and at No. 5 singles from senior Kristen Brown (Winona, Texas) to record its first-ever win in the GSC Tournament and its first-ever postseason win in school history.       

          With the win, Tech improves its record to 17-5 overall and must now wait to see if it has earned an at-large berth into the 2009 NCAA Division II Tournament. The NCAA will announce the 64-team field, including 10 teams from the South Region, on April 29. Tech was ranked 12th in the initial South Region poll that was released on April 1. West Alabama concludes its season with a 13-15 record.

         UWA's only win came at No. 3 singles where Mariana Freitas defeated sophomore Michelle Yu (Flower Mound, Texas) in straight sets.

          With her win at No. 5 singles, Brown has now set a new career record for singles victories in school history. Brown, who was tied with former Golden Sun Whitney Simmons with 51 career singles victories, has now won 52 in her four-year Tech career. In addition, she has also combined to record 92 career victories in both singles and doubles.

          Arkansas Tech 5, West Alabama 1

SINGLES

No. 2 – Saki Matsuoka (Tech) def. Victoria Jones (UWA), 6-1, 6-4

No. 3 – Mariana Freitas (UWA) def. Michelle Yu (Tech), 6-0, 6-2

No. 5 – Kristen Brown (Tech) def. Amanda Morgan (UWA), 6-0, 6-0

DOUBLES

No. 1 – Anna Carson/Matsuoka (Tech) def. Freitas/Jones (UWA), 8-0

No. 2 – Yu/Brittany Turner (Tech) def. Nicole Shanahan/Morgan (UWA), 8-6

No. 3 – Brown/Jessica James (Tech) def. Brittany Williams/Cori Waters (UWA), 8-4

West Alabama Box Score

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