May 25, 2008

FRESNO, Calif. - For one of the Bulldogs' doubles teams, the tournament isn't over.

Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe dominated Notre Dame's Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft, 6-1, 7-5, in the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship in Tulsa, Okla. While the underdogs of the tournament, Renata Kucerkova and Anastasia Petukhova, however, finally met their match, falling to the No. 1 team of the bracket, UCLA's Tracey Lin and Riza Zalameda.

The second-ranked Gloria and Rowe came out ready to win, exploiting the Fighting Irish's weariness.

"Melanie and Tinesta had a very good start, playing very aggressively," said head coach Simon Thibodeau. "Notre Dame had lots of three sets in the match, so I told my team they would want to come out early and that we should come out stronger. Melanie and Tinesta were very fired up."

The Bulldogs didn't give up their serve throughout the match, pushing to make their serves count. After overpowering the Irish in the first set, 6-2, the teams fell into a back-and-forth rhythm in the second, culminating with a tie at 5-all.

Notre Dame had the serve and the opportunity to take the lead, but Fresno State broke the Irish's serve, to take the 6-5 lead. Gloria went back and served for the win.

"We knew what to expect from them because we played them in the fall," explained Thibodeau. "They are a very smart doubles team - skilled, trying to bring you up for the lob and then hit it to the back. But Tinesta was good in the front and Melanie was strong in the back so they didn't have the opportunity to do it."

For Kucerkova and Petukhova, the Bruins proved their No. 1 ranking. The Bulldogs struggled out the gate, finding themselves down 0-2 early. A communication issue forced more errors for Fresno State and UCLA quickly ended the set 6-2. The second set didn't fare any better for the Bulldogs as the Bruins took the second set, 6-1.

"It's hard to catch up against the number one team in the nation," said Thibodeau. "Overall UCLA just played better today. But it might be different next time. I'm so proud of mmy number two team to make the national semifinals."

The Bulldogs play for the Championship title at 10 a.m. PST.

"It's going to be a good match, one against two," said Thibodeau. "It will be a nice doubles show case and the team that executes the best will win."

Two years ago, Bulldogs Lucia Sainz and Katharina Winterhalter rolled through the NCAA Doubles Championship, competing in the title match and falling just short of the championship.

Results

Melanie Gloria - Tinesta Rowe (2), Fresno State def. Brook Buck - Kelcy Tefft (3), Notre Dame- 6-1, 7-5

Tracey Lin - Riza Zalameda (1), UCLA def. Renata Kucerkova - Anastasia Petukhova, Fresno State- 6-2, 6-1

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