Two Falcons Advance to Third Round at Regionals - Air Force Academy Official Athletic Site

Two Falcons Advance to Third Round at Regionals
Tahlia Smoke and Melissa Cecil each won two matches on Wednesday

Junior Melissa Cecil

Oct. 12, 2011

Two members of the Air Force women's tennis team advanced to the third round of the 2011 ITA Mountain Region Championships Wednesday in Las Vegas, Nev. Senior Tahlia Smoke and junior Melissa Cecil each won two singles matches on Wednesday and will play in the third round on Thursday.

Smoke rallied in the first round to split sets with Lucia Kovarcikova of Utah, 6-7(5), 7-5, then Kovarickova retired with Smoke leading 3-0 in the third set. In her second-round match, Smoke came back from a 3-0 deficit in the first set to defeat Sophie Stevens of Nevada, 6-4, 6-3.

Cecil, meanwhile, easily won her two matches on Wednesday. She defeated Alma Espinosa of Wyoming, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round, then beat Colorado State's Lauren Mulhern, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.

Junior Hannah Dake won her first-round match, blanking Lisa Waldron of BYU, 6-0, 6-0, before falling to Wyoming's all-conference No. 1 player Veronica Popovici, 6-3, 6-1.

Air Force's fourth player at the tournament, sophomore Tasha Hueffner, dropped her first-round match to Manon Sylvain of New Mexico State, 6-2, 6-3.

All four players will begin the doubles competition on Thursday.

First Round
Melissa Cecil (AF) def. Alma Espinosa (WYO), 6-2, 6-4
Hannah Dake (AF) def. Lisa Waldron (BYU), 6-0, 6-0
Tahlia Smoke (AF) def. Lucia Kovarcikova (Utah), 6-7(5), 7-5, 3-0 (ret.)
Manon Sylvain (NMSU) def. Tasha Hueffner (AF), 6-2, 6-3

Second Round
Cecil def. Lauren Mulhern (CSU), 6-3, 6-2
Smoke def. Sophie Stevens (Nev), 6-4, 6-3
Veronica Popovici (WYO) def. Dake, 6-3, 6-1

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