May 29, 2006
NCAA Women's Singles Championship
May 29, 2006 * Stanford, CA
Finals
This was the first time in NCAA tournament's 25-year history that both finalists have been unseeded ... Baylor's Zuzana Zemenova was the first unseeded champion last year, Babos is the seocnd ... Babos and Nelson are the sixth and seventh unseeded players to advance to the final ... This is the seventh time players from the same conference face off in the singles final ... The last time was in 2001 (Stanford's Laura Granville beat teammate Lauren Kalvaria) ... Five of the seven times have involved Pac-10 schools ... The Pac-10 has 15 singles champions in the 25 years of the event ... it was the first time since 1996 that Stanford does not have a singles or doubles finalist.
Babos is the sixth sophomore to win an NCAA Singles title, joining past sophomore champs: Amber Liu, Stanford (2004), Laura Granville, Stanford (2001), Lisa Raymond, Florida (1993), Sandra Birch, Stanford (1989) and Shaun Stafford, Florida (1988) ... Liu, Granville, Raymond and Birch all won two titles.
Babos is the second Cal player to reach the finals since Lisa Albano in 1991 and becomes the first Golden Bear to win the title ... Ends her season with a 32-13 record ... Upset 2005 NCAA champ Zuzana Zemenova of Baylor in round of 16 ... Named the ITA National Player to Watch last season which goes to a player expected to win a national title later in her collegiate career ... Also named the 2005 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and was ranked inside top 10 all of last season ... Started this season ranked No. 2 but entered the tournament at No. 28 ... Is left-handed ... Beacame the fourth international player to win the NCAA Women's Singles Championship.
Lindsey Nelson was the second USC player to reach NCAA singles final, joining 1983 champ Beth Herr ... She ends the season with a 25-9 record ... Nelson upset No. 1 seed Audra Cohen of Miami of Miami in round of 16.
NCAA Women's Doubles Championship
May 29, 2006 * Stanford, CA
Finals
Grier and Prousis end the season with a 32-7 record after winning 15-straight matches ... They entered the tournament ranked No. 13 ... They are the second Wildcat duo to win the NCAA Doubles title, joining the 1987 champs Katrina Adams and Diane Donnelly, who are the only other Northwestern finalists ... Northwestern coach Claire Pollard won 1989 doubles title while at Mississippi State ... They are the fifth unseeded doubles champions, the fist since 2004 when UCLA's Daniela Bercek and Lauren Fisher won the tiles ... The duo upset top-ranked and top-seeded Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey in the semifinals yesterday
Lucia Sainz and Katharina Winterhalter from Fresno State were a No. 5-8 seed and were ranked No. 7 entering the tournament ... Their season ends with a 39-12 record ... The duo are the first Fresno State and Western Athletic Conference NCAA doubles finalists.