April 21, 2002
RICHMOND,VA -- Second seeded Virginia Commonwealth ended the Lady Monarch women's tennis team's run in the CAA Tournament as Old Dominion fell 4-1 to the Rams. Top-seeded William and Mary will face Virginia Commonwealth Sunday afternoon at Byrd Park for the 2002 CAA Women's Tennis Championship. The Tribe advanced to tomorrow's 1 p.m. final with a 4-0 triumph over #4 James Madison.
VCU, which is ranked 21st nationally in the latest Omni Hotel Collegiate Tennis Rankings, captured the doubles point after getting an 8-1 win from #2 Silvia Urickova/Barbora Zahnova over ODU's Mily Kannarkat/Julia Sotiriu and an 8-3 victory from #3 Cristina Gago/Jana Carollo over the Monarchs' Patricia Araujo/Lara van Rooyen. In singles, VCU got victories from #2 Andrea Ondrisova, who is ranked 31st nationally, over Ana Radeljevic 6-3, 6-3, #5 Carollo over Araujo 6-1, 6-1 and #6 Gago over Sotiriu 6-4, 6-2. ODU, which is ranked 62nd nationally as a team, got its lone singles win from #3 Lara van Rooyen, the nation's 54th-ranked player, over Urickova, 7-5, 6-4.
W&M, which is ranked 15th nationally as a team, earned the doubles point after getting an 8-1 win from #1 Jessyca Arthur/Candice Fuchs, the nation's 23rd-ranked doubles team, over Liz Simon/Christy Michaux and an 8-1 victory from #2 Delphine Troch/Angela Buergis over Spencer Brown/Margie Zesinger. The Tribe also rolled in singles, getting wins from #3 Buergis over Michaux 6-0, 6-0, #4 Lena Sherbakov over Brown 6-0, 6-0 and #5 Amy Wei over Kristen Veith 6-1, 6-0.
William and Mary will be making its 18th consecutive appearance in the CAA championship match, having won 15 of the past 16 titles. The Tribe was beaten 4-0 last season by Old Dominion to end their streak. Virginia Commonwealth has never won a CAA women's tennis crown. The Tribe and Rams have met on three previous occasions in the title match (1996, 1998, 2000), with W&M winning each time. W&M beat VCU 4-3 in Williamsburg earlier this season.
#2 Virginia Commonwealth 4, #3 Old Dominion 1
SINGLES:#1 Martina Nedelkova (VCU) vs. Nataly Cahana (ODU): did not complete#2 Andrea Ondrisova (VCU) def. Ana Radeljevic: 6-3, 6-3#3 Lara van Rooyen (ODU) def. Silvia Urickova: 7-5, 6-4#4 Barbora Zahnova (VCU) vs. Mily Kannarkat (ODU): did not complete#5 Jana Carollo (VCU) def. Patricia Araujo: 6-1, 6-1#6 Cristina Gago (VCU) vs. Julia Sotiriu: 6-4, 6-2
DOUBLES:#1 Nedelkova/Ondrisova (VCU) vs. Cahana/Radeljevic (ODU): did not complete#2 Urickova/Zahnova (VCU) def. Kannarkat/Sotiriu: 8-1#3 Gago/Carollo (VCU) def. Araujo/van Rooyen: 8-3