Women's Tennis Drops Marathon Match to Southern California
May 20, 1999
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Universityof Miami (20-10) nearly pulled offanother huge upset in the 1999 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championshipin forcing No. 10 Southern California into a marathon match that lastedseven hours and 45 minutes, before falling to the Trojans 5-4 at theLinderStadium and Ring Tennis Complex on the University of Florida campus.
Inclement weather forcedthe match to begin at 7:45 p.m., instead ofthe originally scheduled time of 5 p.m. and did not conclude until3:30 a.m.According to NCAA and tournament officials on-site, the UM/USC matchwas thelongest in NCAA Championships history.
Southern California jumpedout early on UM, 1-0, after a win at No.3 singles. UM sophomore All-American Lioudmila Skavronskaia tiedthe scoreshortly after with a straight set, 6-0, 6-4, win over USC’s 5th-rankedDittaHuber at No. 1 singles. Huber was the highest ranked opponentSkavronskaiahas defeated during her two seasons at UM.
The Trojans responded strongwith straight set wins at Nos. 4 and 5singles to jump out 3-1. Former USC player and current UM juniorEvaJimenez was defeated in her match at No. 4, 6-3, 6-0, by KarolinaBakalarova.
The final two singles matches,at Nos. 2 and 6, both came down tothree sets. UM’s Katia Bogomolova rebounded from losing the firstset inher match at No. 2 to win the second, but eventually fell to No. 56KaraWarkentin, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.
On the verge of gettingeliminated, UM’s Meredith Laughlin(Miami/Killian) forced her match with Krissy Hamilton-Heinberg at No.6singles into a three set marathon. The match match was takingso long thatboth teams decided to begin doubles play.
UM, gaining momentum inthe match, swept USC at No. 1 and 2 doublesto trail USC by just one point, 4-3. Skavronskaia and Marcy Horapulled offanother upset as UM’s No. 1 doubles duo defeated USC’s 11th-rated Warkentinand Huber, 8-4. At No. 2 doubles, UM’s Bogomolova and AlannaBroderickalso recorded an upset with a 8-5 win over USC’s 36th-ranked BakalarovaandVeronika Safarova.
Soon after, the surgingHurricanes behind Laughlin tied the score,4-4, at 3 a.m. with her 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 6 singles. Withthe win,Laughlin, the team-leader in singles victories, forced the matchesoutcometo No. 3 doubles – which she teams with Jimenez.
After playing over sevenhours, the UM tandem finally succumbed toUSC’s Jacqui Boyd and Caroline Christian, 8-4. USC advances tothequarterfinals for the first time since 1990 to face No. 2 seed Stanford.
Skavronskaia, ranked No.25 nationally, will stay in Gainesville tobegin play in the singles championship that begins on Monday.
QUOTES
USC Head Coach Richard Gallien”Really I am speechless. There is no way you can compete for eighthours andkeep it together. It is one thing to start at 10 in the morning anditsanother thing to start at 8 o’clock at night and finish at 3:30 inthemorning. It would have been unbelievably crushing to lose that consideringhow far we were up. We are just as pleased as can be.”
Miami Head Coach – Jay Berger”It was an incredible college match. The match with Meredith (Laughlin)wasprobably one of the best college matches I’ve ever seen in my life.The wayour team fought, as a coach, you can’t be anything but proud.”
BOXSCORE
Singles
No. 1?? Lioudmila Skavronskaia, UM d. Ditta Huber, USC 6-0, 6-4
No. 2?? Kara Warkentin, USC d. Katia Bogomolova, UM 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4
No. 3?? Jacqui Boyd, USC d. Marcy Hora, UM 6-1, 6-1
No. 4?? Karolina Bakalarova, USC d. Eva Jimenez, UM 6-3, 6-0
No. 5?? Veronika Safarova, USC d. Alanna Broderick, UM 6-1, 6-3
No. 6?? Meredith Laughlin,UM d. Krissy Hamilton-Heinberg, USC 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1?? Hora-Skavronskaia, UM d. Huber-Warkentin, USC 8-4?
No. 2?? Bogomolova-Broderick, UM d. Bakalarova-Safarova, USC 8-5
No. 3?? Boyd-Christian, USC v. Jimenez-Laughlin, UM 8-4
