Stopped at the net

The Marshall University women's tennis team was defeated 4-1 in the Conference USA Tournament final against Tulsa on Sunday.

Marshall (19-7) is ranked No. 59 nationally, and advanced to the championship match as the No. 4 seed in the tournament with two impressive victories.

The Herd defeated UCF 4-1 on Friday, setting up a match against No. 27 SMU, who was the No. 1 seed in the tournament and the defending C-USA champion.

Marshall had little trouble against SMU, defeating the Mustangs 4-2 on Saturday.

With the win, Marshall added a new record as SMU is the highest nationally-ranked opponent that Marshall women's tennis has defeated in the program's history.

Marshall senior Thaddea Lock said the team had one focus and one goal going into the match and that was the key to victory.

"We all came together as a team," Lock said. "From playing to cheering our teammates on, we all supported each other. We really wanted the win and we executed our game well."

Waiting in the championship match was the host team Tulsa, who was the No. 2 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 35 nationally. Although Marshall couldn't quite put the game together to defeat Tulsa, head coach John Mercer said he liked the performance he saw from his team.

"I thought we did a really great job," Mercer said. "We won a tough first match against UCF, we played great against SMU who is the No. 27 team in the country and had great effort in the finals against Tulsa."

On what was a gusty morning in Oklahoma, Tulsa took advantage of playing on its home court and the difficult weather. Marshall took the doubles point by winning two of three of the doubles matches, but after that it was all Tulsa.

"We ran into a team that was playing really," Mercer said. "It was a windy day and they did well in the conditions and simply played better than us. We are disappointed about not getting the championship, but we are excited about what we were able to accomplish."

The question now is whether or not Marshall will make the 64-team NCAA Championship Tournament. The Herd would have won the C-USA Tournament, it would have received an automatic bid, but now it must wait to see if it is one of the 31 at-large teams selected.

Mercer said he thinks it is going to be close, but he also said he thinks the team did a lot to help its chances this weekend.

"I think we are going to be right on the border," Mercer said. "They use a computer system much like in college basketball. They usually take out all the conference champions and go straight down the rankings. Our wins against SMU and UCF should move us up and we will have to wait and see."

Making the NCAA Tournament has been the team's goal all season, and Lock said it is especially important to her that the team is selected.

"For me, with it being my last year, I would love to make it in," Lock said. "We just have to sit back and hope that we did enough now. We have worked so hard all season and it would be a fantastic reward."

If Marshall does not make the NCAA Tournament this season, Mercer said it will definitely be a disappointment. He also said that regardless of what happens the team has gained a lot from this season and should be prepared to have a great year next year as well.

"Every year is different," Mercer said. "Everybody knows what it takes to be successful on this team and the more experience we have the better. The players who will be back next year will be ready to have a good season and hopefully they will be able to put it all together at the end of the year."

Troy Hemingway can be contacted at hemingway@marshall.edu.