University of Washington
NCAA Championships
Chan, Dy Victorious In NCAA Singles Openers
May 25, 2011 | Women's Tennis
May 25, 2011
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Senior Venise Chan and junior Denise Dy both safely navigated the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championships today, moving on to the round of 32 at Stanford's Taube Tennis Center. This is the first time since 2004 and just the third time ever that Washington has had two singles players advance in the NCAA singles draw.
Rain in the Bay Area made it a long day for many players and might have helped contribute to some back and forth matches, broken up by weather delays. Six of the first eight singles matches were three set affairs, with several top seeds and the defending NCAA Champion all needing three sets to advance.
Dy, the tournament's No. 4 seed, also had an up and down day but had more peaks than valleys. She rolled to a 6-0 first set win against 44th-ranked Anya Morgina of South Carolina, but Morgina fought back as all players will in this tournament with their season's on the line. Morgina took the second set, 6-4, but Dy regrouped in the third set and pulled away for a 6-2 win. It's her first victory in the NCAA singles tourney in her second trip, and her 30th victory overall this season.
"I think the first round is one of toughest, at least for me," said Dy post-match. "Just getting rid of the nerves and fighting them, especially when there are two rain delays, those nerves just keep building up, but at the same time, I just had to keep calm and keep my composure. That was the most difficult for me today. Thank God I got through."
Despite her lofty seeding, Dy is not taking a single match lightly.
"Sometimes I forget that I'm the fourth seed. When it comes to the NCAA Tournament, everybody knows the seeds but everybody fights for every point," she said. "I'm technically supposed to make it to the semifinals, so hopefully that will happen...But it's been good so far. I'm from NorCal, so I'm used to the weather here."
Chan, making her fourth consecutive NCAA Singles Championship appearance, posted one of the quickest wins of the early session, handling 73rd-ranked Monica Arguello of Furman, 6-3, 6-0. It was a landmark win for Chan, as it was the 100th singles victory of her career, tying her with Dea Sumantri (2002-05) for second on the Washington all-time wins list. Only Kristina Kraszewski (1998-2001) had more wins with 111.
On Thursday, Dy will face a familiar opponent in 21st-ranked Aeriel Ellis of Texas. The two played a memorable match in January, when Dy came back from 5-2 down in the third set to beat Ellis at No. 1 singles and help the Huskies to the 4-3 victory.
Chan's next opponent will be 56th-ranked Shannon Matthews of Notre Dame, as Chan looks to reach the round of 16 for the second year in a row.
Thursday will also mark the beginning of doubles play, as Chan and Dy will team up to face the duo of Sanaa Bhambri and Sandhya Nagaraj of North Carolina State.
Washington Women's Tennis
NCAA Singles Championships
May 25, 2011 - Palo Alto, Calif.
Taube Tennis Center
NCAA Singles - First Round - 64 Players
(16) Venise Chan (UW) def. (73) Monica Arguello (Furman), 6-3, 6-0
(#) refer to national ITA singles rankings; in the tournament itself, Dy is also the No. 4 seed and Chan is one of eight (9-16) seeds.
Players Mentioned
