Women Tennis Loses To Kentucky In NCAAs
May 10, 2002 | Women's Tennis
The curtain came down on the 2001-02 season for the Terrier women's tennis team on Friday (May 10th) when it lost to host University of Kentucky, 4-0, in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
While regular-season matches total seven points, NCAA tournament action is based on the first team to reach four points. One point is awarded to the team that wins two of the three doubles matches, with single points given to each winner of a singles match. In Friday's match, Kentucky won the doubles point and the first three singles matches that concluded. Thus, even though there was still three singles matches being contested, they were "abandoned" in a word used by the ITA umpire and the final score read 4-0. The loss closed the Terriers' record at 12-9, while the Wildcats, who were ranked first in the region and 14th in the nation, improved to 17-8.
While Terrier head coach Lesley Sheehan would not use it as an excuse, the Terriers went into the match missing a key player. Freshman Silvia Guglielmi (Rome, Italy), who had been playing number four singles all year and had compiled a 10-8 record, remained in Boston with the flu. In fact, as recently as Wednesday, she was running a fever over 100 degrees.
"I do not want to use it as an excuse," Sheehan said after the match. "The final score might not have been different, but I think the matches might have been more competitive."
With Guglielmi out of the singles lineup, junior Alana Marcu (Leonia, NJ) was moved from number five to number four to take over for Guglielmi. Sophomore Elisa Glas (Irun, Spain) was moved from her normal spot at number six up to number five. Finally, sophomore Hannah Bartell (Rancho Santa Fe, CA), who had played five matches at number six, was put in the lineup.
Guglielmi's spot also had to be filled in the doubles lineup. Here, Sheehan teamed up Bartell with sophomore Elena deMendoza (Madrid, Spain). Both Bartell and deMendoza had teamed together during the season and had compiled a 2-4 record
It was the doubles play that opened the match, and, not unexpectedly, the Wildcats came away with the point.
"We have been struggling all year with our doubles play," said Sheehan, whose team had won the doubles point in just five of the 20 matches during the season. "I knew we would have our hands full."
Kentucky entered the match with one of the nation's top doubles tandem of Sarah Witten and Carolina Mayorga, who were ranked number eight in the nation with a record of 28-9. The Terriers countered with senior captain Christina Causway (Wilson, NC) and sophomore Lindsey Dynof (Colts Neck, NJ), who were 6-6 as a tandem this year. Kentucky won the match 8-2, although at one point, the score was 4-2.
Bartell and deMendoza squared off against Kentucky's Lauren Rookledge and Leigh Bradwell, who, despite their 31-9 record, were not ranked nationally. Again, the final score was 8-2 in favor of the Wildcats.
With both numbers one and two doubles completed and Kentucky assured of the team point, the number three doubles match was abandoned. The match was between Marcu and Glas and Kentucky's Amy Trefethen and Jill Buckley, who were ranked 60th in the nation with a 28-7 record. At the time it was abandoned, Trefethen and Buckley were leading 7-2.
In singles action, the Wildcats came away with wins at numbers two, four, and six to secure their 4-0 win leaving numbers one, three, and five singles on the court.
The number four singles match was the first to report and Trefethen, who was 21-15 in singles play this year, defeated Marcu, 6-0, 6-1. It was the first time this year that Marcu had played number four singles as she had compiled a 9-8 record at number five.
Next came number six singles where Bradwell, who was 25-15 this season, defeated Bartell, 6-0, 6-0. Bartell was 3-2 this year at number six but had played only one match since February 16th.
The Wildcats' final point came at number two singles where Witten, ranked 60th in collegiate tennis this year with a 25-17 mark, defeated Dynof, 6-0, 6-3. The Terrier sophomore had played number two singles all year and had a team-best 14-4 record. After losing the first set, Dynof played a tough second set and gave Witten a challenge.
The three other matches on the court were at numbers one, three, and five.
At number one, Causway, who was playing her final collegiate match, was locked into the best match of the day against Mayorga. The Wildcats' number one player was ranked 44th in the country and had compiled a 19-16 record. In the meantime, Causway, who was 13-5 this year and 72-51 in singles play during her career, was playing her fourth straight NCAA Tournament. As such, she became the first Terrier women's tennis player to advance to the NCAAs in each of her four collegiate years.
Mayorga won the first set with a hard-fought 6-4 score and had a slight 2-0 edge in the second set when the match was discontinued.
At number three singles, Rookledge, who was 27-16 this season and ranked 84th in the nation, defeated deMendoza, 6-2, in the first set. In the second set, deMendoza, who was 9-9 this season at number three singles, trailed 3-1 when the match was abandoned.
Finally, at number five, Glas,who was 6-6 at number six singles, lost the first set to Jill Buckley, who was 28-15 this year, 6-1. They were in the midst of an excellent second set with Buckley leading by just a 3-2 margin when the match was ended.
"Regardless of the final score, it is always exciting to be playing in the NCAAs," said Sheehan. "There are over 300 schools playing Division 1 women's tennis, and we were one of just 64 playing in the NCAAs.
"I was also thrilled that we were playing Kentucky, who were really excellent hosts," the coach continued. "This is the first time we had ever played them, and the first time we had ever played in the State. So, it was a new experience for everyone. Playing at this level is great experience for our players so they know what to expect in the future.
"I was also very pleased that we gave Kentucky some good singles matches," concluded the coach. "I was particularly happy for Christina since she is the only senior on the team and this was her final match.
"In general, I was very pleased with our season and happy that we returned to the NCAAs."
