Elliott, Sharapova Fall In Semifinals At Colorado Invite

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Elliott, Sharapova Fall In Semifinals of Doubles Bracket At Colorado Invitational
SMU Competed On Day One Of The Invite

Sept. 27, 2013

BOULDER, Colo. (SMU) – Freshmen Macie Elliott and Dasha Sharapova fell in the semifinals of the doubles bracket after winning their first two matches at the Colorado Invitational. Due to poor weather conditions, all matches were forced to be played indoors, which allowed only doubles matches on day one. All singles matches will begin on Saturday.

This tournament is using an experimental format from the ITA where the first to six games in the first set, wins the match. In the event of a tie-break at 5-5, the first to seven wins.

In the round of 16, Elliott and Sharapova competed in the first match of their careers. The duo defeated Denver senior Natalie Dunn and sophomore Charlotte Derbyshire, 6-5 (7-5). They followed their first win with another as they defeated Colorado junior Ashley Tiefel and sophomore Alexandra Aiello, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Elliott and Sharapova faced another duo from Colorado in senior Winde Janssens and freshman Nuria Ormeno Ruiz but fell short, 6-2.

"We began the season in a rather challenging environment, indoors at 6,000 feet and playing in an experimental format,” head coach Kati Gyulai said. “Our excellent run ended in the semifinals of the doubles draw as Macie (Elliott) and Dasha (Sharapova) competed and problem solved well in this environment being their very first college tournament.”

This weekend SMU splits its team between the Colorado Invitational (Sept. 27-29) and the USTA Women’s 10K Tournament in Hilton Head, S.C., which begins on Sunday, Sept. 29.

“We have many positives to build on and we look forward to competing in singles tomorrow," Gyulai said.