March 28, 2001

TU Begins Three-Match Road Trip in Houston:
Tulsa (9-4) begins a three-match road swing this Wednesday at Houston. Tulsa battles the Cougars (4-9) at 12:00 p.m. TU posted a 5-4 win over UH a year ago in Tulsa.

This weekend, Tulsa treks to Arizona for matches against the Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Sun Devils.

On Saturday, March 31, the Hurricane closes out the month with a 12 noon contest against 46th-ranked Arizona (5-8, 1-5 Pac-10) in Tucson, Ariz.

A day later on Sunday, April 1, TU begins the month with a 12 noon match against 13th-ranked Arizona State (12-3, 5-3 Pac-10) in Tempe, Ariz. Tulsa faced ASU in Tempe a year ago and dropped a 9-0 decision to the then 11th-ranked Sun Devils.

Tulsa's Van Dongen Receives WAC Player of the Week Honors:
Tulsa sophomore Marjolein van Dongen (Woerden, Holland) has been named the Western Athletic Conference women's tennis Player of the Week for matches played March 19-25.

With the match on the line, van Dongen secured No. 52 Tulsa's 4-3 upset at home over league foe, No. 42 SMU, by topping the Mustangs' newcomer Kit Carson, 6-3, 6-4.  Earlier in the contest, van Dongen teamed with classmate Aleksandra Durska (Pobiedziska, Poland) to overpower SMU's Chrissie Terrill and Katie Pruett, 8-1, giving the Golden Hurricane an early advantage. 

Golden Hurricane Upsets SMU, 4-3:
With Tulsa holding on to a slim 3-2 lead against league rival, SMU, the match ultimately came down to the No. 5 singles slot where Marjolein van Dongen took the first set, 6-3 and was up 4-2 in the second set before SMU's Kit Carson rallied to tie the set 4-4.  Showing poise, van Dongen swiftly won the next two points to post a straight set win and ultimately swing the outcome in Tulsa's favor.

TU senior Jennifer DeSpain (Edmond, Okla.) and junior Jana Sedivec (Montreal, Canada) captured the No. 1 doubles match, 8-3, while van Dongen and Aleksandra Durska wrapped up the doubles point with an 8-1 victory at the No. 2 position. DeSpain and Sedivec also claimed singles wins at their respective positions.  

TU's Van Dongen On Record Pace:
With her victory over Kit Carson, Marjolein van Dongen surpassed last year's win total of 13 to set a new career single-season mark.   Having won four straight contests at the No. 5 position in the lineup, van Dongen has achieved a 14-4 overall record, while going 8-1 in dual matches during the spring.  Along with Aleksandra Durska in doubles action, the pair is 10-4 overall, 10-3 in dual matches and boasts an undefeated mark of 3-0 against WAC opponents.

Hurricane Notes:
TU's top doubles tandem of Jennifer DeSpain and Jana Sedivec are ranked 26th nationally. The duo sports an overall record of 20-7 and a dual mark of 8-4.

Aleksandra Durska's 22 singles wins this season ranks sixth among TU's single-season leaders. She needs six more victories to tie her career single-season mark of 28 wins, which she recorded last season.

With her singles win against SMU, Jana Sedivec moved into 10th place among TU's career singles leaders with 47 career victories.