April 24, 2007

WOMEN’S TENNIS: Lutes End Season at Conference Meet

LAST WEEK: The Pacific Lutheran women’s tennis team competed in the Northwest Conference Championships at Yakima, Wash. The Lutes finished the tournament in fourth place.

CONFERENCE MEET: The Lutes got off to a good start in the NWC tourney as they beat fifth-seed Whitworth, 7-2, in the first round of the conference tournament to advance to a second round match against Linfield. Against Whitworth, the Lutes were down early but swept the fifth-seeded Pirates in the singles matches. The No. 1 doubles pair of Nicole Petzelka and Erika Feltus was the only PLU duo to win their doubles match as they topped Katie Troxell and Linn Aven, 8-6. Rachael McCoola and Betsy Johnson of Whitworth beat Ashley Coats and Bria Smith, 8-3, in the No. 2 doubles match. In the final doubles match Taryn Smith and Justine Hays toppled Fujitani and Ashley Brooks, 8-2. The singles competition was a whole different story as the Lutes won all six matches, many in convincing fashion. Petzelka cruised by McCoola, 6-1, 6-1, in the No. 1 match. Feltus followed in suit in the No. 2 match by overpowering Aven, 6-0, 6-1. The No. 4 match saw Bria Smith get an easy win against Johnson, 6-0, 6-1. Fujitani swept Taryn Smith in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, in the No. 5 match. The No. 6 match was a close one as Brooks came out on top against Hays 5-7, 7-6 (4), 10-3. The final match of the day saw Coats edge out Troxell, 8-6. The next match pitted the Lutes against one-seed Linfield. The Wildcats, unbeaten against conference opponents during the regular season and in search of their sixth straight conference championship, looked sharp in turning away the Lutes. The 'Cats won all three doubles points and also five of the six singles matches, four of them in straight sets. Tracy Fujitani, a senior, garnered the Lutes' only win, a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Molly Nelson at No. 5 singles. The loss meant Pacific Lutheran would face the No. 3 seed Whitman for the third-fourth place match. Whitman picked up two of the three doubles points, and that proved to be the difference as the two squads split the six singles matches. PLU's No. 1 duo, Nicole Petrzelka and Erika Feltus, got the Lutes off to a good start with an 8-4 win over Margo Lentz and Katie Collier, but Whitman scored wins in the other two matches. At No. 2 doubles, Hadley DeBree and Divneet Kaur beat Bria Smith and Ashley Coats, 8-6, and at No. 3 it was Maura Flaherty and Katie Oost beating Ashley Brooks and Tracy Fujitani, 8-4. Petrzelka and Feltus both won straight set victories at the top two singles spots, and Ashley Brooks took a three-set win over Kaur. The Missionaries won the other three matches, however, including a three-set win from Oost against Smith.

SENIORS SAY GOODBYE: There were three seniors on this year’s tennis team. Tracy Fujitani, Nicole Petzelka and Bria Smith make up the trio of seniors that finished their college careers this past weekend. Petzelka finished her career with an outstanding singles record of 58-22, including a stellar sophomore year when she went 16-2. Smith singles record stands at 42-38 after four solid seasons. Fujitani did not see much action her first three years but really stepped it up this season to finish with a career record of 13-9 in singles.

OVERALL RECORD: The women’s tennis team finished the season with 14-7 record. The Lutes placed fourth in the NWC standings, one game out of second place. Head coach Janel McFeat improved her coaching record to 56-43 in her fifth year at helm of the women’s tennis program at PLU.

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