April 21, 2006

GARLAND, Texas (SMU) - The top-seeded SMU Mustangs advanced to the 2006 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship semifinals with a sweep over eighth-seeded UCF. SMU improved its record to 18-5 and extended its win streak to 11 consecutive matches with the win and will face No. 5 seed Tulsa on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Garland Tennis Center.

After winning at the No. 1 position, the No. 51 Mustangs grabbed the doubles point when freshmen Kristen Reid and Monica Neveklovska edged UCF's junior tandem of Megan Hunter and Becky Gordon, 8-6 at No. 2.

Carrying the momentum into singles competition, Reid defeated sophomore Anna Yakimchenkova, 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 4 position. At the No. 6 position, senior Halley Rambally gave SMU the 3-0 lead with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over sophomore Kyla McNicol before freshman Natalia Bubien sealed the win by beating UCF freshman Elvira Serrot, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 2.

"We had really good energy in the doubles, which carried into our singles play," said head coach Rob Howarth. "We will need to come out with the same energy tomorrow."

Match 4 - Garland Tennis Center(1) SMU 4 def.  (8) UCF 0
SinglesNo. 1 Svetlana Kouzmenko, SMU, vs. Pamela Fernandez, UCF, dnf (6-7, 1-2)No. 2 Natalia Bubien, SMU, def. Elvira Serrot, UCF, 6-4, 6-2No. 3 Georgiana Marta, SMU, vs. Kenza Belbacha, UCF, dnf, (3-6, 1-4)No. 4 Kristen Reid, SMU, def. Anna Yakimchenkova, UCF, 6-2, 6-3No. 5 Brooke Rambally, SMU, vs. Megan Hunter, UCF, dnf (5-7, 4-1)No. 6 Halley Rambally, SMU, def. Kyla McNicol, UCF, 6-3, 6-1
Order of finish: S4, S6, S2
DoublesNo.1 Kouzmenko/ Bubien, SMU, def. Fernandez/ Serrot, UCF, 8-4No. 2 Reid/ Monica Neveklovska, SMU, def. Hunter/ Gordon, UCF, 8-6No. 3 B. Ramablly/ H. Rambally, SMU, vs. McNicol/ Yakichenkova, UCF, dnf (7-4)
Order of finish: D1, D2