May 29, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - California sophomore Suzi Babos captured the 2006 NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Champion this afternoon at the Taube Tennis Center at Stanford with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Pac-10 foe Lindsey Nelson of USC to become the first-ever Cal women's tennis player to win the singles title. On the doubles end, Northwestern's Cristelle Grier and Alexis Prousis became the second Wildcat pair to win an NCAA Doubles Championship, capturing the title this afternoon with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Lucia Sainz and Katharina Winterhalter of Fresno State.
Babos took the first set over 18th-ranked Nelson, 6-4. But in the second set, Babos quickly jumped out to a 4-0, although Nelson held serve on the next game to cut the lead to three. Babos also held to go up 5-1, and broke Nelson for the 6-1 second set and match victory.
This was the first match in the NCAA singles tournament history that both players competing for the title have been unseeded.
Babos is the sixth sophomore in the 25-year history of the tournament to win the title and the 15th Pac-10 NCAA singles champion. She ends her singles season with a 32-13 overall record and a No. 27 national ranking.
Lindsey Nelson was just the second USC player to reach NCAA singles final, joining 1983 champ Beth Herr. She ends the season with a 25-9 record.
Grier and Prousis, who knocked off Stanford's top-seeded Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey in the semifinals yesterday, posted their second straight-set win to snag today's title. The duo join Katrina Adams and Diane Donnelly, who won the NCAA title in 1987, to become the second Wildcat women to capture the doubles championship.
Grier and Prousis end their season on a 15-match winning streak for a 32-7 final record. Sainz and Winterhalter end their season with a 39-12 record, they were the first-ever Fresno State and Western Athletic Conference duo to reach the NCAA doubles final.