Fourth-ranked Duke Blanks Furman, 4-0, In the NCAA Tournament First Round

Friday, May 14

Durham, N.C.

TBA

Duke University

Furman

Fourth-ranked Duke Blanks Furman, 4-0, In the NCAA Tournament First Round

5/14/2004 1:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis

By: Duke Sports Information

May 14, 2004

DURHAM, N.C.-The fourth-ranked Duke women's tennis team blanked Furman, 4-0, on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Ambler Tennis Stadium. The Blue Devils advance to the second round and will face 36th-ranked William & Mary (20-12) on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Duke improved to 20-4 on the season, while Furman falls to 18-9. The Blue Devils reached the 20-win mark for the 10th straight year and now have won nine straight NCAA Tournament contests played in Durham, N.C.

"Furman competed really well today and our team wasn't expecting that kind of fight," said Duke Head Coach Jamie Ashworth. "The 34 days of no matches showed for us today. To try to simulate any type of pressure situation in tennis is impossible and we talked about that after the doubles play."

The Blue Devils jumped out to a quick 1-0 advantage by taking the coveted doubles point. Duke's tandem of Kristin Cargill and Katie Blaszak played for the first time this season together and made quick work of Shannon Moore and Lisa Bornt-Davis, 8-5, at the third position. Then, Amanda Johnson and Saras Arasu downed Mary Neill Hagood and Marti Norris, 8-5, at the second slot to clinch the doubles point.

At the first slot, the match between Duke's 51st-ranked Julia Smith and Tory Zawacki against Caroline Bentley and Jacqueline Eckert was abandoned with the Blue Devils leading 7-6 at No. 1.

The Blue Devils continued putting on the pressure when singles action began going up in four of the six matches early. At the sixth slot, Cargill, a freshman from Atlanta, Ga., improved to 21-9 on the season with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Bonnie Baird to give Duke a 2-0 lead.

Shortly after Cargill's victory, Arasu posted a 6-3, 6-1 win over Norris at the fifth position. The victory for Arasu, a sophomore from Tampa, Fla., improved her to 23-8 and tied her for the team lead for singles wins.

Another Duke freshman, Zawacki, collected the match-clinching victory with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Moore at the second slot. A native of Union, N.J., Zawacki improved to 20-10 on the year and gave the Blue Devils a 4-0 victory.

The No. 1 singles match between eighth-ranked Johnson and Hagood and the No. 4 match featuring Smith and Bentley were abandoned after the match was clinched.

"Tomorrow's match against William & Mary will be much like today because William & Mary wasn't expected to win today and they have no pressure on them," said Ashworth. "We knocked them out of the NCAA Tournament last year and I am sure they are going to want to come out and avenge that loss. From the first ball we hit in warm-ups, we are going to have to compete on Saturday."

Duke and William & Mary will play for the second straight year in the NCAA Tournament as the Blue Devils defeated the Tribe, 4-0, in the NCAA Sweet 16 last season in Gainesville, Fla. Overall, Duke leads the series with William & Mary, 17-4. In the first match of the day, William & Mary upset 22nd-ranked Illinois, 4-2.

#4 Duke 4, Furman 0

Doubles

1.  #51 Julia Smith/Tory Zawacki (DU) vs. Caroline Bentley/Jacqueline Eckert (FU) DNF
2. Amanda Johnson/Saras Arasu (DU) d. Mary Neill Hagood/Marti Norris (FU) 8-5
3.  Kristin Cargill/Katie Blaszak (DU) d. Shannon Moore/Lisa Bornt-Davis (FU) 8-5
Order of finish:  3, 2*



Singles
1. #8 Amanda Johnson (DU) vs. Mary Neill Hagood (FU)  DNF
2. Tory Zawacki (DU) vs. Shannon Moore (FU) 6-0, 6-3
3. Katie Blaszak (DU) vs. Jacqueline Eckert (FU) DNF
4. Julia Smith (DU) vs. Caroline Bentley (FU)  DNF
5. Saras Arasu (DU) d. Marti Norris (FU)  6-3, 6-1
6. Kristin Cargill (DU) d. Bonnie Baird (FU) 6-1, 6-1
Order of finish:  6, 5, 2

Release provided by Dan Wakely, William & Mary Sports Information

W&M Women's Tennis Upsets Illinois in First Round of NCAAs, 4-2

DURHAM, NC (May 14, 2004)-William and Mary won the doubles point and the bottom three singles matches, as the 36th-ranked Tribe upset No. 22 Illinois, 4-2, today in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament at Duke University's Ambler Tennis Stadium.

The win improves the College's record to 20-12 on the season, extending the Tribe's winning streak to nine matches. The Illini end the year at 17-6 with the loss.

W&M took a 1-0 lead in the match by winning the doubles point with victories on courts one and two. Illinois opened the match with an 8-0 win at No. 3 by Isabel Jarosz and Emily Wang over freshmen Alex de Guzman (Holmdel, NJ) and Emily Mowery (Bradenton, FL). At No. 2, Tribe juniors Kate Boomershine (Glenwood, MD) and Lena Sherbakov (Mountain View, CA) broke their opponents' serve in the sixth game and held the rest of the way for an 8-5 win over Eva Choe and Tiffany Eklov. W&M junior Amy Wei (Marietta, GA) and sophomore Megan Muth (Covington, LA), ranked 26th in the nation, clinched the doubles point with an upset win over 15th ranked Cynthya Goulet and Jennifer McGaffigan. The Tribe broke the Illini on their second and third service games, taking a 6-1 lead in the match and holding on the rest of the way for an 8-5 decision.

Illinois tied the match at one, as Goulet defeated Wei, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 3. The Tribe responded by winning the next two completed singles contests to take a commanding, 3-1 lead. Sophomore Lingda Yang (Coconut Creek, FL) cruised past Jarosz, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 4, and was soon followed by Mowery with a 6-4, 6-2 win at court five over Choe. Illinois cut the Tribe's lead to 3-2, as McGaffigan, ranked 38th in the nation, defeated Muth, ranked 25th, 6-4, 6-3, in the top match. Just a few minutes later, however, W&M rookie Kristen Dunbar (Atlanta, GA) won her 10th straight singles match, clinching the Green and Gold's upset with a 6-4, 6-1 win at No. 6 over Pavlina Akritas.

"This was a terrific win for our team," said W&M's first-year head coach Kevin Epley. "We're really playing well right now, coming into the tournament with an eight-match winning streak, including a win over Notre Dame, two over Virginia Commonwealth, and the Colonial Athletic Association championship. If somebody had told me two months ago that we would be in this position I wouldn't have believed it. Everything is coming together at the right time for us. To beat a team as good as Illinois in the NCAA Tournament, like we did today, is a great accomplishment for this team."

W&M advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, and the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. The Tribe will face No. 4 in the second round tomorrow at 4:00 PM. Tomorrow's contest will be a rematch of the third round of last season's NCAA Tournament, when the Blue Devils defeated the Tribe, 5-0.


#36 William and Mary 4, #22 Illinois 2
2004 NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament First Round


Singles
1. #38 Jennifer McGaffigan (Ill.) d. #25 Megan Muth; 6-4, 6-3 (1:51)
2. #114 Lena Sherbakov (W&M) vs. Tiffany Eklov; suspended
3. Cynthya Goulet (Ill.) d. Amy Wei; 6-3, 6-0 (1:03)
4. Lingda Yang (W&M) d. Isabel Jarosz; 6-3, 6-2 (1:29)
5. Emily Mowery (W&M) d. Eva Choe; 6-4, 6-2 (1:36)
6. Kristen Dunbar (W&M) d. Pavlina Akritas; 6-4, 6-1 (1:58) Order of finish: 3, 4, 5, 1, 6


Doubles
1. #26 Muth/Wei (W&M) d. #15 Goulet/McGaffigan; 8-5 (0:52)
2. Kate Boomershine/Sherbakov (W&M) d. Choe/Eklov; 8-5 (0:48)
3. Jarosz/Emily Wang (Ill.) d. Alex de Guzman/Mowery (W&M); 8-0 (0:41)
Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

(Match times in parentheses)