University of Washington
ITA All-American Championships
Dy Marches Into Semis At All-American Championships
October 08, 2010 | Women's Tennis
Oct. 8, 2010
ITA All-American Championships Singles Bracket
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Seventh-ranked junior Denise Dy posted two more wins today at the ITA All-American Championships, to advance on into the semifinals of the elite national tournament. The Husky All-American will face the top-seed and top-ranked player in the country, Jana Juricova of California, in Saturday's semifinal. UW's other round of 16 entry, senior Venise Chan, was ousted in her first match this afternoon at the Riviera Tennis Club.
Dy, a San Jose, Calif. native who shot up into the upper echelon of college tennis with a fantastic sophomore campaign, has now made the final four at two out of the three major college tennis tournaments. Last year, she made a run to the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships, before falling to Juricova in the semis. However, Dy does own a win over Juricova, coming in the finals of last year's ITA Northwest Regional Championship. Saturday's semi will be at 11:45 a.m.
This also marks the second year in a row that a Husky has still been in contention for the national title on the final weekend. Chan reached the semifinals herself one year ago.
In the early afternoon round of 16 matches, Dy went up against Duke's 29th-ranked Ellah Nze. Dy cruised through the first set, 6-2, and then held off Nze in a second-set tiebreak, 7-4. Chan, who defeated 13th-ranked Josipa Bek of Clemson on Thursday, did not have the same success today, falling to 12th-ranked Denise Muresan of Michigan, 6-3, 6-0. Chan defeated Muresan once last season, but couldn't find her rhythm today.
The quarterfinal match-up with Dy and 22nd-ranked Marta Lesniak of SMU would be an all-out battle. Lesniak went through qualifying and had yet to drop a set, and she continued her high level of play with a 6-2 first set win. Dy dug in her heels, however, and nabbed the second set, 7-5. Neither player would relent in the third set, and they headed for a tiebreak. In the end, Dy made it two-for-two in tiebreaks today with the 7-4 victory.
Washington Women's Tennis
ITA All-American Championships
October 8, 2010
Pacific Palisades, Calif. - Riviera Tennis Club
Main Draw Singles
Round of 16
(7) Denise Dy (UW) def. (29) Ellah Nze (Duke), 6-2, 7-6 (4)
(12) Denise Muresan (Mich) def. (9) Venise Chan (UW), 6-3, 6-0
Quarterfinals
(7) Denise Dy (UW) def. (22) Marta Lesniak (SMU), 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (4)
(#) - reflect current national singles rankings; within this tournament, Dy is seeded No. 5 and Chan is seeded No. 7
Players Mentioned
