Tribe Moves Back into National Top 25

Senior Megan Moulton-Levy headlined a quartet of ranked singles players for the Tribe in the ITA standings.

03/18/08 6:00PM

Williamsburg - After a brief two-week hiatus, the William and Mary women’s tennis team moved back into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Top 25, garnering the No. 25 spot in the computer poll released by the organization on March 18. The Tribe was ranked in the top 20 nationally for the opening six polls of the season, before falling out of the top 25. The College also had a quartet of singles players ranked in the national standings to go along with a pair of doubles teams.

Senior Megan Moulton-Levy headlined the group of nationally ranked singles players at No. 10. She moved up two spots from her previous standing of No. 12, after knocking off then-No. 9 and current No. 13 Melanie Gloria of Fresno State in straight sets. Moulton-Levy is currently 21-6 overall on the season with five of her six losses coming to players ranked No. 8 or higher in the national standings, including four in three sets.

Junior Klaudyna Kasztelaniec moved into the national rankings at No. 113 for the first time this season after knocking off a pair of nationally ranked foes during the Tribe’s trip to California. She downed then-No. 43 Whitney Deason , 6-2, 4-6, 10-6, at the No. 4 slot to tally one of the Tribe’s two singles victories against Stanford. Kasztelaniec closed out the week with a straight sets, 6-0, 6-3 win over No. 103-ranked Tinesta Rowe of Fresno State in helping the Tribe to a 5-2 upset of the No. 18-ranked Bulldogs. The wins were the fifth and sixth of Kasztelaniec’s career over nationally ranked foes. She upped her season mark to 19-9 overall and 10-3 at the No. 4 singles position in dual matches.

Junior Katarina Zoricic and sophomore Ragini Acharya round out the nationally ranked singles players for the Tribe at No. 118 and No. 121, respectively. Zoricic is 16-15 on the year, but eight of her losses have come to players ranked in the national top 20. Acharya leads the Tribe in singles victories with 23.

In doubles, Moulton-Levy and Zoricic jumped 23 spots in the national pairs’ rankings to No. 11. The duo tallied a trio of wins over nationally ranked foes during the Tribe’s trip to California, including a 9-7 win over current No. 2-ranked Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe of Fresno State. Moulton-Levy and Zoricic are 20-7 as a team this season and have knocked off the top two teams in the ITA doubles standings. Earlier this season, the Tribe tandem defeated the No. 1-ranked doubles pair from Notre Dame. Zoricic and Acharya remained in the national doubles rankings at No. 34. The pair went 8-4 as a team during the fall campaign.

The Tribe returns from two weeks off when it battles No. 62 Marshall in Williamsburg on Friday, March 21. The match is slated for a 5 p.m. start at the Busch Tennis Courts. The College will also face defending Ivy League Champion Penn on Sunday, March 23, at noon.

ITA National Top 25
1. Northwestern - 84.9
2. Georgia Tech -78.6
3. Baylor - 75.3
4. Florida - 74.2
5. Stanford - 68.6
6. Georgia - 68.5
7. California - 62.9
8. UCLA - 62.5
9. Duke - 58.2
10. USC - 56
11. Vanderbilt - 51.1
12. Miami (Florida) - 49.3
13. North Carolina - 47.7
14. Arizona State - 47.5
15. Florida State - 44.5
16. Fresno State - 43.4
17. Texas - 40.2
18. Pepperdine - 38.6
19. TCU - 37.1
20. Tennessee - 37
21. Denver - 36
22. Arkansas - 35.6
23. Kentucky - 34
24. Notre Dame - 33.8
25. William and Mary - 32.4