Sept. 26, 2010

Final Stats

Contact: Brian McCann

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Sophomore Mengdi Liu won her flight championship match in straight sets and the Vikings posted a near-perfect day on the courts, going 5-1 in singles with all three CSU doubles teams also winning on the final day of the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State.

"This was exactly what I asked the team to do today," CSU head coach Brian Etzkin said. "We talked last night about how we could have been better on the court yesterday and how important it was that we come out and play strong.

"We got a great start by sweeping the doubles and then we played real focused in singles. I can see where this young squad is making progress and I am excited about the potential that they have," Etzkin added.

Liu, a native of Beijing, China, extended her fall record to 7-0 in singles when she upended Chicago State's Juan Rosalina Tejoprayitno, 6-4, 6-3 to win the Draw E Singles title.

It was the second straight weekend that Liu claimed a flight championship in singles. Liu was also 3-0 last at Bowling Green last week to win the No. 6 singles title. She has won all 14 sets that she has played.

"Mengdi is really rolling right now. She is playing with more patience because she realizes that you don't have to get the point right away and she is waiting for her spots. She came back to school in great shape and her experience is starting to show," Etzkin said.

Playing in Draw D Singles, Alexandra Bush swept Ball State's Sarah Hebble, 6-1, 6-1, to win the Consolation Championship. Bush suffered a first round loss on Friday but bounced back to win three consecutive singles matches.

In the Draw C Singles, Nicole Janek dropped a tough 7-6 (5), 6-1 decision to Michigan State's Valentina Rusakova to finish in sixth place and Kara Sherwood upended Ball State's Georgina Thomson, 6-3, 6-3 to finish seventh.

In other singles action, Alex Power came back from a set down to defeat Detroit's Amanda Cornwell, 1-6, 6-2, 10-4 in Draw B and Sanda Bejan toppled Michigan State's Jennifer Yen, 6-1, 0-6, 10-7 in Draw E.

Just like they did on Friday, the Vikings started the day by sweeping their three doubles matches.

The team of Alexandra Bush and Sanda Bjelan routed the California Univ. of PA duo of Fernandez & Zherdeva, 8-1, to finish fifth in the B Doubles Flight while the teams of Bjerrehus and Sherwood (A Draw) and Janek and Power (B Draw) each claimed easy victories to each finish seventh.

The only doubles loss came in the C Draw where Liu, who was teaming with Rocio Benavent from Toledo, dropped an 8-4 decision to a Detroit team to finish sixth in the C Doubles Draw.

The Vikings will take this week off from competition before returning to action in their final team tournament of the fall, playing at the Toledo Invitational from Oct. 8-10.

2010 Spartan Invitational
Final Day Results

Draw B Singles:
Alex Power (CSU) def. Amanda Cornwell (Detroit), 1-6, 6-2, 10-4

Draw C Singles:
Valentina Rusakova (Michigan State) def. Nicole Janek (CSU), 7-6 (5), 6-1
Kara Sherwood (CSU) def. Georgina Thomson (Ball State), 6-3, 6-3
(Janek finishes sixth, Sherwood finishes seventh)

Draw D Singles:
Alexandra Bush (CSU) def. Sarah Hebble (Ball State), 6-1, 6-1
(Bush goes 3-1 to win consolation championship)

Draw E Singles:
Mengdi Liu (CSU) def. Juan Rosalina Tejoprayitno (Chicago State), 6-4, 6-3
Sanda Bjelan (CSU) def. Jennifer Yen (Michigan State), 6-1, 0-6, 10-7
(Liu goes 4-0 to win flight championship match)

Draw A Doubles:
Bjerrehus/Sherwood (CSU) def. Frey/Border (Toledo), 8-4
(Bjerrehus/Sherwood finish in seventh place)

Draw B Doubles:
Power/Janek (CSU) def. Moore/Rosalina (Chicago State), 8-1
Bush/Bjelan (CSU) def. Fernandez/Zherdeva (Cal. Univ of PA), 8-1
(Power/Janek finish fifth and Bush/Bjelan finish seventh)

Draw C Doubles:
Fernandes/Weldon (Detroit) def. Liu (CSU)/Benavent (Toledo), 8-4
Liu (CSU)/Benavent (Toledo) finish in sixth place