Freshman Gerdig claims first place to lead Ball State in women's tennis

In the first of two consecutive weekends in Tennessee, Ball State competed at the three-day

Middle Tennessee Invitational.

Freshman Laura Gerdig notched the Cardinals' best showing with her first-place finish in

the Flight E singles. On her way to the championship match, Gerdig tallied three two-set

decisions in a row. In the finale, she defeated Cincinnati's Mariana Locano 6-1, 3-6 (10-8).

Junior Melissa Roach in Flight A, sophomore Jenny Batty in Flight B, sophomore Jill

Wieman in Flight C and junior Susan Kelley in Flight D all advanced to their respective

semifinals in singles action.

Roach and sophomore Leisa Brooks teamed up to advance into the semifinal round in the A

flight in the doubles portion of the tournament. In their first two rounds, the duo posted 8-0

and 8-4 wins. In the semifinals, they fell to a Cincinnati team by 8-4.

The first-time tandem of Batty and Wieman earned back-to-back 8-2 victories en route to

the semifinals of the B flight. Once there, the new partners suffered an 8-2 loss to Sumitra

Rao and Marlene Dirnstorfer of the University of Memphis.