McKenna places second at 15th Annual Thunderbird Invitational

<p><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/photos/schools/asu/sports/w-tennis/auto_pd… 2009 Thunderbird Singles Bracket</b></a> <a href="http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html&quot; target="_new"><img src="http://grfx.cstv.com/graphics/icon-acrosmall.gif&quot; alt="Get Acrobat Reader" border="0" height="10" width="9"></a></p><separator></separator><p>Arizona State University women's tennis player <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/mckenna_kelcy00.html">… McKenna</a> finished runner-up at the 15th Annual Thunderbird Invitational. Denise Moresan of Michigan claimed the tournament title after defeating McKenna in the finals match. After being down 3-0 early in her first set, the All-American junior battled back to take the first set 7-5. The second and third sets were mirror-images of each other as Muresan gained an early 3-0 lead which the Sun Devil junior could not come back from. Muresan eventually defeated McKenna 5-7, 6-2, 6-2. McKenna also finished second in the Thunderbird Invitational as a freshman in 2007.</p><separator></separator><p>"Reaching the finals of any tournament is a great accomplishment," said 26th year head coach <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/mcinerney_sheila00.htm… McInerney</a>. "She had a very good first set but fell behind early in the other two and couldn't recover. It is hard to come back from playing from behind. It is great that she was able to reach the final as the number one seed in the tournament. It's tough and not as much fun being the hunted as opposed to the hunter."</p><separator></separator><p>McKenna was not the only Sun Devil in action the final day of the Sun Devils home tournament. Several Sun Devils competed in additional singles matches, along with doubles. All-American <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/hein_micaela00.html">M… Hein</a> picked up a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ohio State's Paloma Escobedo. Senior <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/martin_amanda00.html">… Martin</a><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/brown_ashlee00.html">A… Brown</a> also competed. Martin dropped her match to Michigan's Kari Wig 6-0, 6-4 while Brown fell 6-1, 6-1 to Ohio State's Christina Keesey. and junior</p><separator></separator><p>Two doubles team were in action. The duo of Hein and <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/abdala_nadia00.html">N… Abdala</a> earned a win as they took an 8-4 victory from Boise State's Jasper and Jochimsen. McKenna and Brown fell 8-3 in their contest to Taney and Mahtani of Michigan.</p><separator></separator><p>"The tournament went really well," said McInerney. "The weather was perfect, there were great teams out here that all battled hard and got some great matches in. Three days of match play is exactly what the doctor ordered for the end of our fall. It is nice to end the fall at home and the matches gave the girls a lot of confidence."</p><separator></separator><p>The Sun Devils have concluded their fall season and are off until January when they will compete in the Freeman Memorial Invitational in Las Vegas.</p><separator></separator><p>Additional Singles (Sunday)<br><a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/hein_micaela00.html">M… Hein</a> (ASU) def. Paloma Escobedo (OSU) 6-2, 6-3<br> Christina Keesey (OSU) def. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/brown_ashlee00.html">A… Brown</a> (ASU) 6-1, 6-1<br> Marite Raygada (USD) def. Taylor Fournier (UofM) 6-4, 6-2<br> Kari Wig (UofM) def. <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-tennis/mtt/martin_amanda00.html">… Martin</a> (ASU) 6-0, 6-4<br> Rika Tatsuno (UofM) def. Stephany Chang (Cal) 6-1, 6-3<br> Juliette Coupez (USD) def. Nelly Radeva (Cal) 2-6, 6-3, 7-5<br> Bianca Jochimsen (BSU) def. Kara Cecil (OSU) 4-6, 7-5, 7-5<br> Kari Wig (UofM) def. Catalina Visico (Cal) 6-1, 6-1<br></p><separator></separator>Doubles<br> Hein/Abdala (ASU) def. Jasper/Jochimsen (BSU) 8-4<br> Taney/Mahtani (UofM) def. McKenna/Brown (ASU) 8-3<br> Davis/Chang (Cal) def. Muresan/Tatsuno (UofM) 8-6<br> Keesey/Escobedo (OSU) def. Radeva/Siwocz (Cal) 8-4<br> Sulahein/Nguyen (UofM) def. Coupez/Raygada (USD) 8-3</p>