After the Missouri Valley Invitational Oct 13-15, SIUC women’s tennis coach Judy Auld said her squad had not experienced a letdown in intensity or excitement for the team’s remaining tournaments.

The MVC was a very good confidence booster, she said. What I’m concerned about is not being letdown. I don’t sense that.

Her squad has proved her right so far.

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The Salukis captured two flight championships and two consolation flight championships last weekend at the Louisville Invitational in Louisville, Ky.

Saluki Helen Johnson won flight C competition, defeating Louisville’s Mary Pearson 6-1, 6-1. She was undefeated in tournament play. Sanem Berksoy also won the flight B consolation singles for SIUC.

In doubles, the team of Berksoy and Melva McNeil defeated players from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga to win the flight C title. Teammates Liz Gardner and Patricia Zihler won the flight A consolation bracket.

Johnson said her mental and physical game came together in the tournament. She used a variety of shots to win her matches.

I was using a lot of different shots, she said. My slice was really on. I won a lot of points by hitting short and angled.

Auld said Johnson is playing very well at a difficult position in SIUC’s line up. She said Johnson possesses qualities some athletes playing similar positions do not have.

The bottom positions are tough to play, she said. You have to be adaptable and mentally strong. She does what she has to do to win.

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Berksoy suffered a tough first-round singles loss to Beth Foote of Louisville. She said after she lost her first-round match, she increased her concentration and became more focused in her consolation matches.

Auld said the consistency of Berksoy’s game leads to winning matches.

She is just playing solid tennis, Auld said. She is very consistent. She is having a good fall.

Berksoy continued her success in doubles with McNeil. Berksoy said their flight C title shows they are improving despite being just a first-year doubles team.

We are improving now, she said. We are playing like a team now, where as before we played our singles games in a doubles formation.

Auld said she has also noticed the team’s improvement on the courts.

They seem to be working together really good as a team, she said. They are communicating well.

In their final doubles match of the tournament Gardner and Zihler defeated a team from Eastern Kentucky University 8-2. Zihler said the team’s focus on doubles in practice helped them in the tournament.

The more we practiced the more we realized we are getting better , she said. Our doubles game is improving, we are getting better on our strategy.

Auld was pleased with her squad’s performance because the team performed well as a whole.

I was very pleased, she said. The key thing was I felt like the majority of the people played good.