University of Missouri
ITA Central Regional
Juric and Sevcikova Repeat as Central Region Doubles Champions
10/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Oct. 28, 2002
University of Missouri tennis players Urska Juric and Katka Sevcikova captured the 64-field doubles title at the Omni Hotels Central Region Championships for the second consecutive year in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Sunday. The Tiger tandem beat Courtney and Kristin Steinbock from Kansas 8-5 to advance to the finals where they won a slugfest against Anda Perianu and Heather Saluri of Oklahoma 9-7. The title qualifies Juric and Sevcikova to play in the NCAA National Indoor Championships in two weeks. They are the first team in the Central Region to ever repeat. Missouri head coach said, "We played well, and we were fortunate. The last two matches were absolutely brutal, and we have nothing but respect for the Steinbocks and that team from OU - they are great players and very cool kids. Three of the four singles semi-finalists were from the Big XII, and three of the four doubles semi-final teams were Big XII teams. In that situation, we all pulled for each other. It was really neat to see the kids from all the different teams in the Big XII hanging out between matches and genuinely rooting for each other. Our kids were pulling for the girls from Colorado and OU, and players from Kansas, OSU, and Kansas State were pulling for us. Aside from what the Tigers did, this Big XII interaction will be what I remember most from this tournament. These are all special kids, and I couldn't be more proud of what they continue to do."
Other Tigers fared well at the Omni Regionals as well. MU Senior Kristina Olshanskaya and MU sophomore Lucie Ruskova each won two matches prior to falling. MU sophomore Mary Barry fell in the first round to #3 Seed Anda Perianu of Oklahoma, as did MU junior Britteny Holliday.
Mizzou junior Urska Juric won five singles matches in route to the singles final where she came up short #1 Seed Alicia Pillay of Tulsa 6-4, 6-3. Juric and Pillay will represent the Central Region in singles at the National Indoors, and Juric becomes the first Tiger to play singles at the NCAA National Indoors. The National Indoor Championships to be played November 7-10 in Dallas, Texas. Up next for the Tigers is the Mizzou Tiger Pro-Am to be played this Saturday at the Green Tennis Center at Mizzou.
