Tribe’s Fuchs and Moulton-Levy Advance to Quarterfinals of NCAA Tournament

W&M Duo Earn All-American Honors with Straight-Set Doubles Win in the Round of 16

05/25/05 9:04PM

ATHENS, GA - For the second straight day William and Mary senior Candice Fuchs (Sarasota, FL) and sophomore Megan Moulton-Levy (Monroe, MI) bounced back from an early deficit to win in straight sets, as the Tribe doubles team, ranked 21st in the nation, upset No. 15 Dianne Hollands and Maja Mlakar (Arizona), 7-6 (4), 6-4, in the NCAA Doubles Tournament round of 16 this afternoon at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

The victory improves the Tribe team’s record to 25-10 this season and earns them automatic All-American status in doubles from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Hollands and Mlakar, who were ranked No. 1 in the nation in the preseason, end their season with a record of 28-10.

For the second time in their two NCAA Tournament matches Fuchs and Moulton-Levy found themselves in a hole early, trailing 3-0 in the first set after the Arizona team held serve in the first and third games, while breaking the Tribe in the second. W&M held in the fourth and broke the Wildcats in the fifth to bring the score to 2-3, and each side held through the eighth. With the set ties at four games each, both teams lost their next service games, each holding on their second to force a first-set tiebreaker. With the Tribe leading 6-4 in the tiebreaker, Fuchs converted two straight service winners to win the first set.

Each side lost its first service game in the second set, then the Tribe was broken again in the third, while the Wildcats held the fourth, taking a 3-1 lead. However, W&M held the rest of the way, breaking Arizona in the eighth game to tie the set at four, then again in the 10th to win the set, 6-4. Fuchs put a decisive end to the contest with an overhead smash down the center of the court and out of the stadium to clinch the victory.

The win sends the Tribe duo into the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament, where they will face the tournament’s No. 2 seed Audra Cohen and Cristelle Grier (Northwestern), currently ranked No. 2 in the nation. That match is scheduled to start no earlier than 2:30 PM tomorrow.

Match Notes: This the second straight season and just the fifth time in school history that William and Mary has had a women’s doubles team reach at least the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament ... Last season current Tribe senior Amy Wei and junior Megan Muth lost in the quarterfinals ... The only time a W&M team has won in the quarterfinals was 1998, when Lauren Nikolaus and Michelle O advanced to the semifinal round ... Fuchs and Moulton-Levy are the seventh Tribe doubles team to earn All-American status from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association ... Moulton-Levy now has 30 doubles wins in her first season of college tennis, one away from tying the school’s rookie record of 31, held by six-time All-American Lauren Nikolaus ... Fuchs has 83 doubles victories in her career, tying two-time doubles All-American Katrin Guenther for 10th most in school history ... Moulton-Levy has combined for 58 wins this season (28 singles and 30 doubles), one away from tying for the eighth most combined wins in a season in school history ... Her 30 doubles wins this season is tied for seventh in school history and just two away from tying the W&M single-season record.



2005 NCAA Doubles Tournament
Second Round
#21 Candice Fuchs/Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) d. #15 Dianne Hollands/Maja Mlakar (Arizona); 7-6 (4), 6-2