Jan. 20, 2007

The Eastern Washington University women's tennis team opened its 2007 campaign on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 20) versus a tough opponent in No. 66 Washington State (2-0) and fell to the host Cougars, 7-0. WSU is one of the best teams that Eastern (0-1) will face this year, as the Cougars are the fourth-highest ranked team on EWU's schedule.

In doubles play, the Eagles' No. 2 team of Kerstyn Dolack and Kasey Knox earned an impressive 8-5 win over Ashley Spicer and Amy Toth. Rachel Berger and Marie Demerath held close in its match at court three, dropping an 8-4 decision to Bianca Selaru and Aleksandra Stefanova. Eastern's No. 1 duo of Amanda Mankovits and Iliana Petrova fell to Ekaterina Burduli and Marjolein van de Ven, 8-2, and the Cougars were able to capture the doubles point.

Although each of the singles matches were won by WSU players in straight sets, Knox played well at No. 1, dropping a 6-4, 6-2 decision to the 85th-ranked singles player in the country, Burduli, while Mankovits lost to Stefanova, 6-4, 6-3, on court five.

Next week, the Eagles will head back on the road for three matches in the Centennial State. Eastern will take on Air Force at 4 p.m. PT on Friday (Jan. 26) before taking on Northern Colorado the next day and Colorado State on Jan. 28.

The Falcons open their season on Monday against Colorado and also play South Dakota State before facing the Eagles. The contest with Northern Colorado will not only be UNC's initial one of the season, but will be the Bears' first-ever Big Sky Conference match. CSU will be playing its season-opening match against Eastern, as well.

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Eastern Washington at Washington State

#66 Washington State 7, Eastern Washington 0

Jan. 20, 2007, at Pullman, Wash.

Singles competition

1. #85 Ekaterina Burduli (WSU) def. Kasey Knox (EWU), 6-4, 6-2

2. Amy Toth (WSU) def. Iliana Petrova (EWU), 6-2, 6-1

3. Marjolein van de Ven (WSU) def. Kerstyn Dolack (EWU), 6-3, 6-1

4. Bianca Selaru (WSU) def. Rachel Berger (EWU), 6-1, 6-0

5. Aleksandra Stefanova (WSU) def. Amanda Mankovits (EWU), 6-4, 6-3

6. Aleksandra Cekic (WSU) def. Marie Demerath (EWU), 6-1, 6-2

Doubles competition

1. Ekaterina Burduli/Marjolein van de Ven (WSU) def. Amanda Mankovits/Iliana Petrova (EWU), 8-2

2. Kerstyn Dolack/Kasey Knox (EWU) def. Ashley Spicer/Amy Toth (WSU), 8-5

3. Bianca Selaru/Aleksandra Stefanova (WSU) def. Rachel Berger/Marie Demerath (EWU), 8-4

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,4,3,1,6,5)