Printer-Friendly Format     E-mail this article     Buck and Tefft keep NCAA tournament hopes alive with win on Thursday evening

Tandem wins tough three set match in the Round of 32

May 22, 2008

Notre Dame, Ind. - The No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Doubles' Championship of Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft advanced to the Round of 16 late Thursday night. The duo struggled out of the gates but was able to rebound and keep their tournament winning streak alive.

Buck and Tefft were matched up against the team of Bianca Dulgheru and Sylvia Kosakowski of the Pepperdine Wave in their first round match. Pepperdine was able to capture the initial momentum of the match and carry it to a first set victory, taking it 6-4.

Needing to win the final two sets to stay alive, Buck and Tefft showed why they are ranked No. 3 in the tournament. The second set was taken with ease as the Irish team broke twice to capture the set (6-3), and even the match at one set apiece.

Holding serve became the story of the third and final set. In the first six service games neither team was able to capture a break, as the set stood at 3-3. However, Buck and Tefft would then step on the accelerator and take control of the match from that point. The Irish would go on to break the seventh game and follow that up by holding serve at love, making the set 5-3. Pepperdine would close the gap slightly by holding their serve and moving the set to 5-4. Buck and Tefft would put the match away with ease, however, as they again held serve at love and wrapped up the first round victory (4-6, 6-3, 6-4).

The Round of 16 will take place Friday, May 23 from Tulsa, Okla. Buck and Tefft will be taking on the team of Macall Harkins and Anna Sydorska of TCU.

Continue to visit UND.com for news on the third-seeded doubles team of Tefft and Buck in the doubles championships Round of 16 match on Friday afternoon. Live scoring and video of all NCAA Division I Tennis Championship events are available through the University of Tulsa's official athletics website, www.tulsahurricane.com.