%20(1).png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
University of Louisville
ITA Regionals
Women's Tennis Surrenders to Illness at ITA Championships
October 18, 2007 | Women's Tennis
Oct. 18, 2007
The University of Louisville women's tennis team was felled by a stomach virus rather than their competition at the first day at the 2007 ITA Southeast Regional Championship hosted by the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. Play began Wednesday with pre-qualifying and concludes next Monday with the championship matches.
U of L had a strong first round in the qualifying bracket before having to battle through illness in the second round.
Jo-Ann Van Aerde beat Jenny Gomez from Gardner Webb 6-2, 6-1 but lost to Duke's Jessi Robinson 6-1, 6-2. Lindsey Jones beat Clemson's Kathryn Gerber 6-2, 7-5 but lost to Erica Zabkar of UNC-Greensboro.
"This was a very disappointing day for me as a head coach because I felt so bad for my team," said U of L first year coach Mark Beckham, who himself was suffering as well. "We were playing the best tennis of the year to date and then were hit by a virus that would take them out of the tournament. I thought we were really going to have a breakout performance in this tournament before this."
Natalia Baez was battling Wake Forest's Jenna Loeb, dropping the first set 3-6 but willing her way to a 7-5 win in the second set. She was unable to answer the bell for the tiebreaking third set.
I was as proud of Natalia as I have ever been of a player in my 14 years of coaching. She just battled even though she felt horrible ," said Beckham.
Losing Baez meant that the doubles team of Natalia Baez and Bianca Gorbea had to default their doubles draw. The only good news coming out of Chapel Hill for the Cardinals is that Gorbea did not miss her main draw singles match which will go Friday morning and Beckham is hopeful the worst of the bout is over by then.
For complete results, fans should go to North Carolina's website or the link below:
http://www.tennisinformation.com/tourny/5/1/7/8/3/2/0/draws.asp
Players Mentioned
