ALLENDALE, Mich. - UIndy newcomer Stephanie Hirsch wasted little time making her mark on the women's tennis squad, winning the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional singles tournament Sunday at Grand Valley State University.

Hirsch started off the day with a close three-set victory over Tiffin's Caroline Nelhage, 6-3, 6-7(4), 1-0 (10-5) in the semifinal match. She then met two-seed Kwang Suthijindawong from Michigan Tech in the final. Suthijindawong, an All-GLIAC first-teamer last year and former GLIAC Freshman of the Year, won in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 in the semifinal to face Hirsch.

In the finals, the UIndy sophomore won 6-3, 6-2, capturing the flight victory and advancing to the ITA National Small College Championship in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 9-12.

She improves to 12-0 in her first season competing with the Greyhounds.

SATURDAY
Stephanie Hirsch continues to set the tone for the UIndy women's tennis sqaud this fall, reaching the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional semifinal Saturday in A Singles.

She defeated host Grand Valley State's Leah Dancz - seeded ninth in the bracket - 6-1, 6-0 in the Round of 16. The Vienna, Austria native then defeated the eighth-seeded Alisa Reshetnikova from Northwood, 6-2, 6-2. In Sunday's semifinal she faces Tiffin's Caroline Nelhage.

Allie Smith, also competing in A Singles, won her Round of 16 match 6-1, 6-1 over Findlay's Matina Matic. She fell in the quarterfinal 6-3, 7-6(5) to Wayne Yahsha State's Moore, the four-seed.

In A Singles consolation, Macey Speer won 6-1, 6-2 over Alderson Broaddus' Veronica Mueller and 6-2, 6-2 over McKendree's Anna Mernick. She then fell 6-4, 6-3 to ODU's Alejandra Gonzalez.

In the B Singles consolation draw Dana Olsen reached the finals with consecutive wins over WSU's Walsh (3-6, 6-2, 10-7) and GVSU's Kristina Lucas (6-4, 3-6, 10-8).

She nearly faced her sister, Paige, in the final match after Paige reached the semifinal with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Tiffin's Andrea Alaniz. However, she lost to Alisha Walsh's Angle in the semifinal bout, 6-3, 6-2.

FRIDAY
The UIndy women's tennis team put together a solid opening day at the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional, hosted by Grand Valley State.

Stephanie Hirsch and Allie Smith each advanced to the A Singles "Sweet 16" following two wins Friday. Hirsch, the top seed in the bracket, defeated Missouri-St. Louis' Renee Verboven 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round before dropping Wayne State's Anne Li Briand 6-3, 6-0 in the second. She improves to a perfect 8-0 in singles play this fall.

Smith, seeded seventh, handed Lewis' Jill Wetmore a 6-0, 6-4 defeat in the first round. She then won 6-2, 6-2 over UMSL's Annie Hays to advance to the Sweet 16.

Selenay Heper won 6-1, 6-0 in her first round A Singles bout over McKendree's Janelle Fung, but fell in the second, 6-2, 7-5 to 10th-seeded Nina Djordjevic from Findlay. Macey Speer fell 6-0, 6-2 to GVSU's Kali Phillips in the first round of A Singles.

In B Singles action, Dana Olsen lost 6-2, 6-1 to GVSU's Aimee Moccia in her first match, but advanced to the quarterfinals of the consolation with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Walsh's Arina Kravitz.

Paige Olsen also fell in the B Singles opener, 6-2, 6-2 to Grand Valley's Courtney Lang, but liker her sister reached the consolation quarterfinal by dropping Davis & Elkins' Erika Ridgway 6-2, 6-0.

All three of UIndy's A Doubles duos fell in the opening round, but each rebounded to stay alive in the A Doubles consolation draw. Hirsch and Smith defeated Siegel/Fung from GVSU, 8-2, and the Olsens won 8-5 over Comley/Mernick from McKendree. Heper and Speer got a bye to start their consolation flight.