May 9, 2008

Duke Dominates Temple In NCAA Tournament First Round

DURHAM, N.C. - The ninth-ranked Duke women's tennis team got off to a stellar start in NCAA Tournament play on Friday as the Blue Devils defeated Temple, 4-0, in first round action at Ambler Stadium.

Doubles play saw Duke go ahead 1-0 on victories at No. 1 and No. 3. The freshman duo of Ellah Nze and Reka Zsilinszka posted a commanding 8-0 win over Lucie Pazderova and Theresa Stangl at the No. 3 spot before the seventh-ranked Blue Devil tandem of sophomore Amanda Granson and junior Melissa Mang defeated Anastasiia Rukavyshnykova and Christine Clermont, 8-2, at the top doubles position to clinch the initial point.

Zsilinszka, ranked 24th in the country, put the Blue Devils ahead by a 2-0 score with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Pazderova at the No. 3 slot.

Mang then raced past Clermont, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 4 to push Duke's lead to 3-0 before Granson clinched the victory with a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over Rukavyshnykova at the No. 4 position.

No. 14 Tar Heels Top S.C. State, 4-0

CHAPEL HILL --- No. 14 North Carolina eased its way into the NCAA second round with a 4-0 win over South Carolina State Friday at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. The Tar Heels got singles wins from Austin Smith, Laura Reichert and Meg Fanjoy to clinch the victory. The win was Carolina's eighth consecutive opening-round NCAA Tournament triumph.

UNC (18-8) opened play against South Carolina State (13-4) by rolling to a pair of doubles wins. No. 58 Katrina Tsang and Smith were first off with an 8-1 win over Andrea Davidova and Daria Sekerina at the No. 2 position. No. 15 Sanaz Marand and Sophie Grabinski then secured the point with an 8-1 win over Mirian Cruz and Marcela Rodezno at No. 1.

Singles play was more of the same, as the Tar Heels rolled into Saturday's second round meeting with No. 17 Arkansas. No. 94 Smith made it 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Davidova at No. 3. Reichert was next off with an impressive 6-1, 6-1 decision at No. 4. Fanjoy ended the match when she finished her 6-1, 6-1 win over Iveta Blodniece at No. 6.

No. 12 Miami Cruises Past Quinnipiac In NCAA First Round, 4-0

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Sophomore All-American Laura Vallverdu, sophomore Claudia Wasilewski and freshman Bianca Eichkorn all swept their singles matches, 6-0, 6-0, as the 12th-ranked and top-seeded University of Miami women's tennis team shut out Quinnipiac, 4-0, in first round action of the 2008 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships Friday at UM's Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

Miami (16-5) got out to an early lead over Quinnipiac (9-11) in all three doubles matches before the match was suspended due to inclement weather. After a delay of just over six hours, play resumed at approximately 5:45 p.m. with UM clinching the doubles point shortly thereafter.

The 20th-ranked team of Vallverdu and Romy Farah beat Quinnipiac's Mary Wilson and Adrienne Markison, 8-1, in the No. 1 spot for the early advantage before Eichkorn and Caren Seenauth won 8-0 at No. 2 against Jackie Herb and Amanda Petruzzi to put UM up 1-0.

No. 15 FSU Women Roll Past Samford 4-0, Move On To Second Round

Tallahassee, Fla. - In front of a rowdy crowd at Scott Speicher Tennis Center, the No. 15 Florida State (19-7, 8-5) women's tennis squad took care of the Samford Bulldogs (20-5, 12-0) 4-0 to move on to the second round of the NCAA Tennis Championships for the second year in a row. The Seminoles' match-up against No. 19 Texas or No. 43 USF will mark just the fourth time in school history the team has made it to the second round.

Sophomore Jessica Wente gave the Seminoles' their first win of the tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Samford's Katie Weaver. Wente's win came just a few minutes after teammate Katie Rybakova secured her 18th win of the season over Taylor Morgan 6-3, 6-2 on the spotlight court.

Senior Tapiwa Marobela got the ball rolling for Florida State in singles early on with a powerful 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Samford's Rebecca Kirven.

No. 3 Georgia Tech Downs Alcorn State, 4-0, in NCAA First Round Match

ATLANTA - Noelle Hickey, Whitney McCray and Christy Striplin all swept 6-0, 6-0 singles matches as No. 3 Georgia Tech (20-5) defeated Alcorn State (13-13), 4-0, in the first match of the NCAA Atlanta Regional, which is being played at the Bill Moore Tennis Center on Georgia Tech's campus.

The Jackets' third doubles tandem of Striplin and Kirsten Flower made quick work of the Lady Braves' Martina Garda and Avernelle Holder, breezing to an 8-0 win to start the match, before Tech's top two doubles lines finished within seconds of each other to pick up the first point of the match.

McCray and Hickey clinched the doubles point with an 8-1 victory over Stefania Guzman and Katherine Hoepelman before Kristi Miller and Sasha Krupina finished off the sweep with an 8-5 win against Swetha Devaraj and Sarah Jo Peters just seconds later.

Clemson Defeats Winthrop in NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament

Tigers advance to play #19 Michigan in second round Saturday at 11 a.m. The 13th ranked Clemson Women's Tennis team took on the Winthrop Eagles in the opening round of NCAA tournament action Friday, with the Tigers winning, 4-0. The Tigers move to 16-9 on the season while the Eagles close out at 13-12.

The Tigers got on the board first with the doubles point. Federica van Adrichem and Estefania Balda downed Winthrop's Sara Abutovic and Yelena Fadina, 8-4. Then, Ina Hadziselimovic and Alexandra Luc took down the Eagles' Larisa Berkmetova and Lisa Wilkinson 8-3 to earn the doubles point. The fourth-ranked duo of Ani Mijacika and Carol Salge finished within a minute of the clinching doubles point, but the result will not count due the point having already been decided.

Ina Hadziselimovic drew Sara Abutovic at flight three after Estefania Balda dropped out prior to her match due to a shoulder injury. Hadziselimovic took the matchup with Abutovic in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2, to gain the first singles point for the Tigers. #115 Laurianne Henry, also playing up a spot, downed Larisa Berkemtova at flight five to capture the third point. Alexandra Luc, called into singles action due to the Balda injury, took down Paula Pereira at flight six to clinch the match for the Tigers.

Arkansas Tops Deacs 4-0 in Opening NCAA Contest

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's tennis team fell 4-0 to 17th-ranked Arkansas in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon.

The Demon Deacons will end the season with an 8-14 record, while the Lady Razorbacks are 16-9 heading into the second round contest against North Carolina, set for Saturday afternoon.

The Razorbacks opened with two quick doubles wins, taking No. 2 8-2 and No. 3 8-1. When the contest was called Sasha Kulikova and Sierra Poske were trailing 5-2 to Arkansas' 29th-ranked pair Ela Kaluder and Aurelija Miseviciute.

#34 NC State Falls to #24 William & Mary in NCAAs

The NC State women's tennis team, ranked No. 33 nationally, fell to #24 William & Mary in a close contest in Durham, N.C. in the first round of the NCAA Championships. The Wolfpack (13-11) had match points in doubles but couldn't close the door, and the Tribe (17-8) won at No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 singles to advance.

NC State was participating in its third straight NCAA Championships after making the field only once previously in school history.

The Tribe and Wolfpack battled to a close finish during doubles play, with the Pack dropping a heartbreaker at No. 2 to clinch the point.

Catherine Grotz and Lenka Hojckova lost at No. 1 doubles, 8-6, as William & Mary's No. 10 ranked duo of Moulton-Levy and Zoricic held off the Pack duo.