Women’s Tennis Players Fare Well At MCC Collegiate Classic

Sept. 18, 2007

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson women’s tennis players Estefania Balda and Laurianne Henry performed well at the MCC Collegiate Classic held at the Montgomery Country Club in Montgomery, AL over the Sept. 14-16 weekend. The pair advanced to the finals of the doubles tournament and both reached the semifinals in singles competition.

Balda and Henry were seeded #1 in the doubles bracket and posted an 8-3 victory over Anna Redesci and Julia Chergova of Clayton State in their first match. The Tiger tandem then won by an identical margin over Lindsey Wilson’s team of Candela Castanon and Jessica Weyrueter in the semifinals before falling in the finals to Lenore Lazaroui and Stephanie Dalmacio of Wichita State.

Balda earned the number-one seed in singles as well and defeated Clayton State’s Chergova in the opening round (6-2, 6-3). The Tiger sophomore then rolled to a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Jessica Weyrueter in the round of eight before suffering a 6-1, 7-5 defeat to Tereza Veverkova of Auburn-Montgomery.

Henry won her first collegiate match on Friday afternoon, posting a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Winthrop’s Larisa Bekmetova in the first round. The Anderson, SC native then upset #2 seed Kamila Dadakhodjaeva of Auburn-Montgomery, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals. Henry fell to Clayton State’s Redecsi by a score of 6-2, 6-4 to conclude her first tournament with a 2-1 record.

The majority of the Clemson team will open its season at the Furman Fall Classic, which begins on Sept. 28 in Greenville, SC.