Women's Tennis Handed Early Exit from NCAA Tournament
May 15, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. -- The 32nd-ranked Washington women's tennis team fell 5-4 to North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tennis Regional at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center, Saturday. North Carolina, ranked 25th, improves its record to 16-8, while the Huskies finish the season 10-11.
Doubles proved to be the difference in the match after UW battled to a 3-3 tie in singles. Unfortunately for the Huskies, their only doubles win came at the No.3 position. The Husky tandem of Zeta Wagner and Peggy Wu defeated North Carolinas Jeni Burnette and Courtney Zalinski 8-4.
"We knew coming in that Washington had a great team," said North Carolina head coach Roland Thornqvist. "The key to winning this match was going to be whichever team was able to put singles behind them and play great doubles. We were able to do that. Three of the four girls that played doubles for us lost their singles matches, but they were able to rebound and make the plays to get us the victory."
"This was a very hard fought match," said Washington head coach Patty McCain. "North Carolina played well and made the shots when they needed them."
Next week Husky sophomore Kristina Kraszewski will participate in singles competition at the NCAA Championships for the second straight year. The tournament will be held at the Univ. of Florida on May 24-28. Kraszewski is ranked 18th in the nation and owns a 24-12 overall record. Kraszewski and her doubles partner, Ilona Kordonskaya, also recieved a bid to compete in the doubles competition at the NCAA Championships. This duo is currently ranked 23rd in the nation and owns a 15-14 overall record. The brackets for the tournament will be drawn after the NCAA Regional Championships.
Singles
1) Kristina Kraszewski (UW) def. Jessica Zaganczyk (UNC) 6-3, 6-2 2) Ilona Kordonskaya (UW) def. Caroline Hill (UNC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 3) Cena Hackler (UNC) def. Zuzana Stunova (UW) 6-4, 7-6 (5) 4) Lara Botts (UW) def. Sarah Hawkins (UNC) 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 5) Courtney Zalinski (UNC) def. Zeta Wagner (UW) 6-2, 6-4 6) Jeni Burnette (UNC) def. Jenny Svanfeldt (UW) 6-3, 7-5Doubles
1) Zaganczyk-Hackler (UNC) def. Kraszewski-Kordonskaya (UW) 8-3 2) Hill-Hawkins (UNC) def. Stunova-Svanfeldt (UW) 8-2 3) Wagner-Wu (UW) def. Burnette-Zalinski (UNC) 8-4
