Olivier and Urbina Capture Doubles Title to Close Out Fall Season

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Nov. 1, 2009

WACO, Texas - Texas A&M sophomore Sheri Olivier and freshman Nazari Urbina capped off the fall season by capturing the doubles championship title today at the HEB Baylor Invitational at the Baylor Tennis Center.

After eliminating the No. 1 seed of Csilla Borsanyi and Taylor Ormond of Baylor in the round of 16 on Friday, the Aggie duo continued to stream roll through the tournament field. Once in the finals, Olivier and Urbina faced Gabriella Kovacs and Sona Novakova of Armstrong Atlantic State. The match was knotted at 5-5, when A&M fought off a break point and rallied to win three consecutive games to close out the match and win the tournament title.

"Sheri and Nazari were the surprise of the tournament," A&M coach Bobby Kleinecke said. "They beat the No. 1 seed earlier in the tournament and showed that win was for real by going undefeated the rest of the way. It was a great showing."

A&M's Elzé Potgieter was the runner up in the singles bracket. The senior from South Africa began the day by dropping her first set in the semifinal match, 6-2, to No. 6 seed Abigail Guthrie of Ole Miss. Potgieter then turned the match around by winning the next two sets, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to the championship match.

"After the first set, Elzé made some good adjustments and was playing great," Kleinecke said.

Potgieter, the No. 3 seed, carried the momentum into the championship match and won the first set, 6-1, against No. 2 seed and 48th-ranked Csilla Borsanyi of Baylor. Potgieter also built a 3-1 lead in the second when several questionable calls went against her, and Borsanyi won five unanswered sets to win the second set. Borsanyi also built an early lead in the third set and held onto a 6-3 third-set victory to win the singles title.

"Elzé was playing well until several calls went against her and she lost her focus," Kleinecke said. "She couldn't regroup until midway through the third set, when she once again got her game back. She started hitting her shots again, but it was too late.

"I thought overall we competed very well this weekend. It was unfortunate that we got matched up against each other several times, but even then the girls fought hard, gave it all they had and gained a lot. It helped make for a successful fall in which we showed a greater maturity than we did last year."

A&M opens the spring season on January 30 at Clemson in the opening round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.

HEB Baylor Invitational - Day 3 Results

Singles
(3) Elzé Potgieter (A&M) def. (6) Abigail Guthrie (Ole Miss), 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
(2) Csilla Borsanyi (Baylor) def. (3) Potgieter (A&M), 1-6, 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
Sheri Olivier/Nazari Urbina (A&M) def. Gabriella Kovacs/Sona Novakova (Armstrong), 8-5

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