Blue Raiders Fall 7-0 to Tulsa

Tulsa began the match by sweeping the doubles point. Row and Carla Zabaleta defeated juniors Marlene Chemin and Elvira Yusupova 8-3. In No. 2 doubles seniors Ann-Kristin Siljestrom and Claudia Szabo fell to Thalia Diaz-Barriga and Marta Marcinkowska 8-5.

Freshman Shannon Hartmann and sophomore Stephanie Parkison fell to Kickoutkin and Jie Zeng 8-7 (2) to round out doubles action.

"We fought hard and played really well. We asked our girls to lay it all out there and they did all weekend. We have improved so much in the last month and will continue to do so," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "It has been fun to coach our team because Melissa and I feel like we are working as hard as we can on a daily basis, we are competing with all our heart and we have really come together as a team."

Siljestrom lost her match with Kickoutkin 6-3, 6-2 while Parkison fell to Diaz-Barriga 7-5, 6-1 to begin singles play.

Then Santoro defeated Herrera 6-1, 6-4 and Szabo lost to Marcinkowska 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (2) in No. 5 singles.

Rounding out action for the Blue Raiders were Chemin and Yusypova. Chemin fell to Row 7-5, 6-1 in No. 4 singles while Yusypova lost to Zabaleta 6-7 (5), 6-4, 1-0 in No. 3 singles to round out play.

Middle Tennessee will be back in action on March 9 when it faces South Alabama in Mobile, Ala.

Singles
1. Kickoutkin (TUL) def. A.K. Siljestrom (MT) 6-3, 6-2
2. Thalia Diaz-Barriga (TUL) def. Stephanie Parkison (MT) 7-5, 6-1
3. Carla Zabaleta (TUL) def. Elvira Yusupova (MT) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 1-0 (4-0)
4. Row (TUL) def. Marlene Chemin (MT) 7-5, 6-1
5. Marta Marcinkowska (TUL) def. Claudia Szabo (MT) 6-1, 5-7, 1-0 (2-0)
6. Agostina Santoro (TUL) def. Andrea Herrera (MT) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles
1. Row/Carla Zabaleta (TUL) def. Marlene Chemin/Elvira Yusupova (MT) 8-3
2. Thalia Diaz-Barriga/Marta Marcinkowska (TUL) def. A.K. Siljestrom/Claudia Szabo (MT) 8-5
3. Kickoutkin/Jie Zeng (TUL) def. Shannon Hartmann/Stephanie Parkison (MT) 8-7 (7-2)

Match Notes:
Middle Tennessee 5-10
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,2,6,5,4,3)