Upset after a third-round loss in the single consolation bracket at the Riviera Women's All-American Tennis Championship in Pacific Palisades, Calif., Sarah Cyganiak still had one more shot. Later in the afternoon, the senior teamed up with junior Sora Moor to win their first match of the main draw doubles competition.
The duo qualified for the main draw where they promptly defeated Alison Passmore and Jane White of Wichita State, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, in the first round. Passmore and White were ranked 43rd in last year's ITA rankings.
"It was great that (Cyganiak and Moon) came back in the afternoon to win," Michigan coach Bitsy Ritt said. "That is a sign of good players."
In the quarterfinals, Cyganiak and Moon ended their run in the All-American Championship. They lost to No. 2 Christina Moros and Farley Taylor of Texas, 6-4, 6-1.
"We played well in the first set," Moon said. "But we just couldn't keep it up in the second set. (Moros and Farley) just clicked more in the second set and capitalized on the situation."
Moros and Farley moved on to the semifinals defeating Wendy Fix and Kristin Sanderson of Duke, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1. In the final round, Moros and Taylor faced top seed Ania Bleszynski and Katie Schlukebir of Stanford.
"Overall, we did a great job and had a lot of fun," Cyganiak said. "Sora and I just clicked and took advantage of the situation."
In the first round of qualifying singles action, Cyganiak fell to seventh-seeded Patricia Zerdan of Southern Methodist, 6-2, 6-0. Zerdan went on to defeat Olga Novikova of Penn State, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, in the second round and Martina Hautova of Oklahoma State, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the third round. In the fourth round, Zerdan fell to Elizabeth Schmidt of UCLA, 6-4, 6-1.
"(Cyganiak) played a close match," Ritt said. "It is always a disappointment to lose."
Although losing in the first round of qualifying singles, Cyganiak qualified for the consolation round, in which she defeated Addriana Garcia of Arkansas in her first match, 6-2, 6-2 and then rolled over Stephanie Tibbets of California in the second round, 6-3, 6-4.
"I started off slow but then began to play well," Cyganiak said. "My strokes were working, and my forehand was on, but I had match point and lost it."
In a third-set tie-breaker in the fourth round match, Cyganiak suffered a painful lose to Diana Spadea of Duke, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6. In last season's ITA rankings, Spadea was ranked 109th, 25 spots behind Cyganiak.
"The quality of tennis was elite," Cyganiak said. "We did a very good job of getting to the quarterfinals. It was a positive experience, and I look forward to the next tournament."
This tournament is the second in a series of Intercollegiate Tennis Association Grand Slam Events. The next leg of the championships will be the ITA Midwest Championship held in Madison, Nov. 7-10. To participate in the events, a player must either be invited by the organization or qualify for the tournament based on their previous records.
Coming into this tournament, Cyganiak and Moon held a doubles record of 6-4. In singles competition, Cyganiak has a 5-6 record. Last year the duo had a 17-1 Big Ten record and went 19-5 overall.