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

Tribe to Face Duke in Second Round Tomorrow

05/14/04 4:40PM

DURHAM, NC - 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 Duke 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)