Tribe Advances to Second Round with Win over No. 34 N.C. State

W&M advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

05/09/08 4:45PM

Durham, N.C. - The No. 24-ranked William and Mary women’s tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 victory over No. 34 North Carolina State at Duke University’s Ambler Tennis Center on Friday afternoon. It marks the fifth time in the last six seasons that the College has won its opening round match of the NCAA Tournament. The Tribe won its 10th straight matches this season to improve to 18-8 overall.

The initial point of the tilt came down to the No. 2 doubles position after the two squad’s split wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. The Green and Gold tandem of junior Klaudyna Kasztelaniec and sophomore Ragini Acharya clinched the point with a 9-7 win over Berkeley Brock and Daria Petrovic. The triumph was Acharya and Kasztelaniec’s ninth straight as the duo upped their season ledger to 11-4 at the No. 2 slot. It also marked the fourth straight match in which the Tribe’s No. 2 duo clinched the doubles point.

The No. 11-ranked team in the country of senior Megan Moulton-Levy and junior Kat Zoricic started the College off on the right foot in pair’s competition with an 8-6 win over Catherine Grotz and Lenka Hojckova at the top doubles position. The win was the 11th straight for the W&M tandem as they improved to 28-7 overall and a remarkable 21-4 at the No. 1 spot.

The College wasted little time clinching the match with straight-set singles wins at the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 positions. Moulton-Levy, a five-time All-American, pushed the W&M cushion to 2-0 with a quick 6-1, 6-1 win over Petrovic at the top singles spot. The triumph pushed the No. 12-ranked player’s season ledger to 29-6 overall. She won her ninth straight match in improving to 21-4 at the top singles position.

Sophomore Lauren Sabacinski brought the College within a win of the team victory, downing Grotz, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 5 spot. It was the 50th win of Sabacinski’s W&M career as she improved to 24-11 on the season. Fellow classmate Acharya cemented the Tribe’s passage into the next round with her team-leading 32nd singles win of the season. The Pulaski, Va., native won her 10th straight match, upending Hojckova, 6-4, 6-4. Acharya, who is ranked No. 118 nation-ally in singles, has won 32 matches in each of her first two seasons with the College.

W&M will return to action when it battles No. 9 Duke at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 10 at the Ambler Tennis Center. The winner of the match will earn a berth in the round of 16 at the NCAA Championships in Tulsa, Okla., May 15-26. The host Blue Devils (19-4) advanced with an easy 4-0 win over Atlantic 10 champion Temple on Friday. Live stats for the Tribe-Blue Devil match will be available at GoDuke.com or by following the link at TribeAthletics.com.

The Tribe has won each of the last two matches against Duke in 2005 and 2006, but the Blue Devils won the last NCAA Tournament meeting in the round of 16 during the 2003 campaign. The Green and Gold will look for its first back-to-back NCAA Round of 16 appearances since making the quarterfinals in 1997 and 1998.

#24 William and Mary 4, #34 N.C. State 0
Singles
No. 1 – #12 Megan Moulton-Levy (W&M) def. Daria Petrovic (NCSU) – 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 – Kat Zoricic (W&M) vs. Berkeley Brock (NCSU) – 2-6, 6-2, DNF
No. 3 – #118 Ragini Acharya (W&M) def. Lenka Hojckova (NCSU) – 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 – Klaudyna Kasztelaniec (W&M) vs. Julia Roach (NCSU) – 6-2, 5-3, DNF
No. 5 – Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) def. Catherine Grotz (NCSU) – 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 – Carmen Pop (W&M) vs. Neils Barringer (NCSU) – 3-6, 5-4, DNF
Finishing Order: 1, 5, 3*

Doubles
No. 1 – #11 Moulton-Levy/Zoricic (W&M) def. Grotz/Hojckova (NCSU) – 8-6
No. 2 – Acharya/Kasztelaniec (W&M) def. Brock/Petrovic (NCSU) – 9-7
No. 3 – Barringer/Roach (NCSU) def. Sabacinski/Pop (W&M) – 8-6
Finishing Order: 1, 3, 2*