May 25, 2000
Malibu, Calif. -- Stanford sophomore Marissa Irvin (Santa Monica, CA) and freshman Laura Granville (Chicago, IL) will meet in the finals of the NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship tomorrow at the Pepperdine University.
Irvin, ranked No. 1 and the Pac-10 Player of the Year, advanced to the singles final with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over 29th-ranked Katarina Malec of UNLV. Granville, who earlier in the season captured singles titles at the National Individual Indoor Championships and Northwest Regional Championships, defeated fifth-ranked Aarthi Venkatesan of Georgia 6-1, 6-0. The third-ranked Granville dominated the match, winning the final 12 games.
"I'm very pleased with how I played. I came out focused and I think the results show that," Granville said. "Marissa and I are good friends and we practiced together all year. We'll both play hard but once the match is over there will be no hard feelings."
After losing the first set and the first game of the second set, Irvin won the next six games in commanding fashion to tie the match. Irvin took control of the match midway through the third set, winning the final four games to defeat Malec.
Stanford has captured eight singles championships since the NCAA Tournament went into effect in 1982. Lilia Osterloh is the last player to win the singles title, defeating Florida's M.C. White 6-1, 6-1 in 1997.
Both players earned All-America honors in singles due to their success in the touranment. Tomorrow's match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship -- Semifinals #1 Marissa Irvin (Stanford) def. #29 Katarina Malec (UNLV) -- 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 #3 Laura Granville (Stanford) def. #5 Aarthi Venkatesan (Georgia) -- 6-1, 6-0
NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship Final * Friday, May 26 * 1 p.m. #1 Marissa Irvin (Stanford) vs. #3 Laura Granville (Stanford)