Duke's Amanda Johnson Falls In Singles Consolation Finals Sunday

Oct. 12, 2003

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIF. - Duke University senior Amanda Johnson fell in the singles final at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Riviera All-American on Sunday in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The ninth-ranked Bettendorf, Iowa product lost 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 to 34th-ranked Megan Bradley of Miami.

California's Raquel Kops-Jones and Vanderbilt's Kelly Schmandt and Aleke Tsoubanos captured the singles and doubles titles Sunday at the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships, the first national tournament of the 2003-04 season, at the Riviera Tennis Club.

Cal's Kops-Jones, the No. 2 seed, beat unseeded Erin Burdette of Stanford 6-3, 6-2, in today's singles final to become the first African American woman to win a national collegiate singles title at the NCAA Division I level. Vanderbilt's Schmandt and Tsoubanos topped Northwestern's Christelle Grier and Jessica Rush 8-6 to win the doubles title; Schmandt is the first player to win two ITA All-American doubles titles (she won the 2002 title with Sarah Riske).

Kops-Jones, a senior from Fresno, Calif., who won the 2003 NCAA doubles title, registered four top-20 victories en route to the final. She is the first Cal player to win the ITA All-American in singles. Burdette, a junior from Jackson, Ga., was playing in her first national singles final and looking to become the fourth Cardinal player to win this tournament. She beat No. 1 seed Agata Cioroch in yesterday's semifinals.

Vanderbilt's Schmandt, a senior from Santa Barbara, Calif., and Tsoubanos, a senior from Chesterfield, Mo., beat three teams ranked inside the top 10 of the ITA's national doubles rankings en route to the title. Last year Tsoubanos won the title as the No. 1 seed, this year she needed to win three qualifying matches earlier in the week with Schmandt to reach the main draw, then four more to win the title.

Duke will next compete in the ITA Regional Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C. beginning Oct. 23.

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