May 23, 2005
Athens, Ga. - One day after the team celebrated Stanford's 14th NCAA Championship, injuries hurt the Cardinal in the individual competition. Seven Stanford players were invited to participate in the singles championship, but only three will advance to tomorrow's second round. Alice Barnes, Theresa Logar and Anne Yelsey each won her opening matches today to continue play in the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament on the campus of the University of Georgia.
Barnes, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament yesterday, dropped her first set of the day, but came back to defeat Tulane's Jenny Kuhn in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. She will challenge Florida's Zerene Reyes (seeded 9-16) tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. (ET).
Logar faced an opponent from Texas for the second-straight day, scoring a 6-4, 7-6(8) win over Petra Dizdar this afternoon. She will face California's Suzi Babos in the second round tomorrow at 11:30 a..m. (ET).
Yelsey continued her success with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Georgia's Shadisha Robinson (seeded 9-16). The Cardinal sophomore picked up her 31st win of the season and her sixth over a ranked opponent this year.
"The team and I had been playing well all week so I came in with a lot of confidence," commented Yelsey. "Shadisha [Robinson] is a tough player so I knew it was going to be a tough match all the way. I think she made a few unforced errors in the start so I played more conservative in the second set and it hurt me a little."
Yelsey will take on Wake Forrest's Karin Coetzee tomorrow at 10 a.m. (ET).
A shoulder injury ended the possibility of junior Amber Liu winning her third-consecutive NCAA title, as the seventh-seeded player in the tournament defaulted after two sets to Aniela Mojzis of North Carolina, 6-7(6), 6-0, ret.
"My shoulder was bothering me the past few days, but I took it as just a nagging injury and thought I could look past it," noted Liu. "Today after about a hour and a half I couldn't raise my hand above my shoulder.
"Devastating is really the only way I can describe it, especially with the goals I had coming in," continued Liu. "Right now I'm just keeping it iced and see what happens for doubles."
Senior Erin Burdette, who scored the clinching match in yesterday's team championship, withdrew before the tournament began and is hopeful for doubles competition, which begins on Tuesday.
Freshmen Whitney Deason and Lejla Hodzic, who were both battling late-season injuries over the past few weeks, also lost today. Deason battled Florida's fifth-seeded Jennifer Magley in a three-set match, and after losing the first-set tiebreaker 7-6(9), Deason came back for a 7-5 second-set win. After playing singles and doubles for four-straight days in the team championship, Deason fell 6-4 in the third set to end her rookie campaign. Hodzic had not competed since April 16, when she sprained her ankle in the final regular season dual at California, but she returned to the court today, falling in two sets to Vanderbilt's Audra Falk.
Doubles play will begin tomorrow, with Liu and Yelsey set to take on Vanderbilt's Audra Falk and Amanda Taylor, and Barnes and Burdette ready to challenge Lindsay Deason and Mihaela Moldovan (Florida St.).
NCAA Singles Championship
Day One * May 23, 2005
Stanford Results Only
Alice Barnes, Stanford, def. Jenny Kuhn, Tulane, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Theresa Logar, Stanford, def. Petra Dizdar, Texas, 6-4, 7-6 (8)
Anne Yelsey, Stanford, def. Shadisha Robinson(9-16), Georgia, 6-3, 6-4
Aniela Mojzis, North Carolina, def. Amber Liu(7), Stanford, def. 6-7(6), 6-0, ret.
Audra Falk, Vanderbilt, def. Lejla Hodzic, Stanford, 6-1, 6-4
Jennifer Magley(5), Florida, def. Whitney Deason, Stanford, 7-6 (9), 5-7, 6-4