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Sunday, April 27, 2003

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Slippery Rock (18-2) will make its fourth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II women's tennis tournament when it plays host to Bentley (10-5) Friday in the first round of the East regional.

In the other semifinal, IUP (13-4) will meet Queens College (7-1) of New York City.

California (12-8) will play at Bloomsburg (13-6) in the other side of the East regional.

The regional winners will advance to the 16-team national tournament in Orlando, Fla., May 8-11.

Slippery Rock, ranked 34th in the country, received an automatic bid to the tournament by winning its first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship since 1981 with a 5-1 victory against Bloomsburg in the final.

The Rock's Ella Reilly, a senior from Australia, was the tournament MVP. Reilly and Jessica Bungo, a junior from Indiana, Pa., were 11-0 at No. 2 doubles. Bungo, ranked No. 40 in singles by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, is 15-5 at No. 1 singles.

SRU's No. 1 doubles team is senior Christy Michaux and her sister, freshman Ashley, from Jeannette. They are 11-1. Christy, who transferred this season from Division I James Madison, is 11-1 at No. 3 singles and Ashley is 20-1 at No. 4 singles. Reilly is 17-4 at No. 2 singles.

IUP, in the tournament for the second consecutive season, features No. 5 singles Lynn Posteraro (12-2), No. 6 singles Mary Pierandozzi (9-0) and the No. 1 doubles team of Jackie Kulp and Jenna McConnell (10-4).

California, a 5-0 loser to Bloomsburg in the first round of the PSAC tournament, is led by No. 2 singles Kylie Corsi, a freshman from Hempfield High School who has a 9-2 record. Corsi and Catalina Martinez are 6-5 in doubles.

Campus courts

Seventh-seeded Duquesne split four matches to finish seventh in the Atlantic 10 Conference women's championships at College Park, Md. Led by Katie Riedinger, a junior from Plum, the Lady Dukes defeated St. Bonaventure in the first round, 4-0. They lost to Temple and George Washington by 4-1 scores and defeated Fordham, 4-2. Riedinger was 2-2 at No. 2 singles and 1-0 at No. 2 doubles with Julie Wagner. Sarah Shanahan was 2-2 at No. 5 and No. 6 singles and teamed with Leia Zingone to go 1-0 at No. 3 doubles.

Duquesne's Micael Lopez-Acevedo was named to the A-10 men's all-conference team and is the league's academic student-athlete of the year.

The Mellon bubble

Duane Ashley, director of Citiparks, described the first 2 1/2 months of play under the new bubble at the five Mellon Park courts as a "moderate success, but not a raving success."

The courts opened Feb. 11, and the bubble is scheduled to be dismantled in late May. "We have to work around the availability of the vendor [Yeadon Fabric Dome Inc. based in Canada]," he said. "It's a week-long process to take it down and get everything stored."

The courts are open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

"We have 50 to 60 percent occupancy from 4-8:30 p.m. during the week," he said.

"We have clinics all day Saturday, and the courts basically are filled all day Sunday. When we crunched all the numbers, we figured we needed 50 percent occupancy to break even financially. We tweaked our rates a little, lowering them a little during the season."

Asked how the bubble has been received by the players, he said, "We've had no problems regarding the structure, the level of comfort and the level of play. Most people are amazed at how well lit the courts are."

Ashley said most of the play this year came from individuals with permanent court time, with a smattering of walk-ups.

The tournament trail

Ron Mercer will defend his singles championship and is expected to defend the doubles championship with his brother, Tom, in the 83rd Edgewood Invitational tournament at the Edgewood Club, May 5-11.

This column is scheduled to appear Sunday in the Post-Gazette until September. If you have news, scores or interesting anecdotes, either call Phil Axelrod at 412-263-1103, email paxelrod.post-gazette.com or fax 412-263-1926.