Air Force Academy

April 28, 2011

The Air Force women's tennis team completed its 2010-11 season Thursday with a 4-0 loss to 55th-ranked Utah in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Mountain West Conference Championships in Fort Collins, Colo. The Falcons finished the season with a 16-11 record, tying last year's mark for the most wins in one season since a 20-10 record in 1998-99.

The Utes took a 1-0 lead in the dual, picking up the doubles point in two matches. Utah claimed a victory at the No. 1 position, with the tandem of Anastasia Putilina and Paige Miles netting an 8-4 victory over Melissa Cecil and Tahlia Smoke. Utah's duo of Evgenia Kryuchkova and Lexi Provancha captured the doubles point for the Utes, downing Christen Monreal and Anastasia Hueffner, 9-8 (3) at the No. 2 position. The No. 3 match was then halted in a tiebreaker after Utah's team of Lucia Kovarcikova and Sarah Pham saved a match point at 7-5 against the Falcon duo of Sarah Cassman and Hannah Dake.

Pham claimed the first singles victory of the match, cruising to a 6-0, 6-2 decision over Smoke at the No. 3 position to give Utah a 2-0 advantage. Putilina, the 89th-ranked player in the country, then notched the team's third point with a straight-set win over Monreal (6-2, 6-2) at the top of the singles lineup and Miles finished the match with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 5 singles over Hueffner. The other three matches were halted at that point.

"It was a great day to play tennis and the team showed up to play," said Air Force head coach Kim Gidley. "The doubles was huge and we had a lot of opportunities and just fell short. If we had converted at match point it could have been a different match. In the singles, the fight was there, they were just stronger than us. Overall I was really proud of the energy and effort and the team had a great season."

Singles
1. #89 Anastasia Putilina (UTAH) def. Christen Monreal (AFA) 6-2, 6-2
2. Evgenia Kryuchkova (UTAH) vs. Melissa Cecil (AFA) 6-2, 5-2, DNF
3. Sarah Pham (UTAH) def. Tahlia Smoke (AFA) 6-0, 6-2
4. Lucia Kovarcikova (UTAH) vs. Sarah Cassman (AFA) 6-4, 4-3, DNF
5. Paige Miles (UTAH) def. Anastasia Hueffner (AFA) 6-3, 6-2
6. Lexi Provancha (UTAH) vs. Megumi Voight (AFA) 6-0, 4-2, DNF
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 5

Doubles
1. Putilina / Miles (UTAH) def. Cecil / Smoke (AFA) 8-4
2. Kryuchkova / Provancha (UTAH) def. Monreal / Hueffner (AFA) 9-8(3)
3. Hannah Dake / Cassman (AFA) vs. Kovarcikova / Pham (UTAH) 8-8, DNF
Order of Finish: 1, 2