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Falcons beat Utah, 4-3, for fifth-place at MWC Championships
Air Force finishes season at 15-11
April 27, 2002
The Air Force women's tennis team posted the first of two upsets on the final day of the 2002 Mountain West Conference Championships with a 4-3 victory over Utah in the fifth-place match. The Falcons, seeded sixth, avenged a 4-3 loss to Utah earlier this season by defeating the fifth-seeded Utes. In the other match on Saturday, No. 2-seed UNLV beat top-seed San Diego State, 4-2, to win the conference tournament and earn the MWC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Falcons jumped out to a 1-0 lead with wins at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Brooke Parsons and Laura Nigro defeated Irini Kotoglou and Allison Hansen, 8-1, at No. 1, while Ashley Gee and Kelli O'Bryant beat Linn Ronnberg and Sheri Esrock, 8-2, at the No. 3 spot. The No. 2 match did not finish. Air Force took another early 3-0 lead as Parsons and Heather Shelby each won in a third-set match tie-break. Parsons rallied to beat Esrock, 5-7, 6-1 and 10-6 at the No. 1 position, while Shelby beat Ellen Svensson 4-6, 6-1 and 10-6 at No. 3. Utah picked up two points with victories at Nos. 2 and 5 singles to close the match to 3-2. The Utes tied the match at 3-3 when Cassie Kasteler picked up a straight sets win over Kelli O' Bryant in the No. 4 match. Falcon senior Ashley Gee then clinched the team match for Air Force in her final match as a Falcon, a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Hansen at the No. 6 position. The Falcons finish the 2001-02 season with a 15-11 record, and their highest finish at the MWC Championships in the conference's three years of existence.
Air Force 4, Utah 3
Singles
Doubles
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