Friday 05/12/2000
May 12, 2000
STANFORD, Calif. – The 39th-ranked Fresno State Bulldogs (16-8) advanced to the second round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships with a 5-3 upset victory over the 23rd-ranked Clemson Tigers (15-7) on Friday at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
The Bulldogs will next meet the Stanford-Weber State winner in NCAA second round action on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. The winner of that match advances to the NCAA Team Championships in Malibu, California on May 18-21.
Fresno State took control of the match in singles play when both Kandiss Creighton (Weldon, CA/Kern Valley HS) and Anke Beier (Velbert, Germany) came back from a set down to post three-set victories. Creighton rallied for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 win over Catherine Galvin (Wading River, NY/Shoreham Wading River) at No. 2 singles, while Beier lost the opening set to Christina Oldock (Naples, FL/St. John Newman HS) 6-0 at No. 5, but came back to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-3. Beier’s victory gave Fresno State a 4-2 lead at the conclusion of singles competition.
“Those two matches were the turning point for us,” Fresno State head coach Corbin Archer said. “Kandiss has had a few tough losses as of late, and it was good to see her turn it around today. Anke had been injured (neck), and hadn’t practiced all week but also came through for us.”
Liesl Fichtbauer (Hamburg, Germany/Hellwig-Gymnasium) and Kim Niggemeyer (Berlin, Germany/International University) also posted singles victories for the Bulldogs, while Clemson received singles wins from Renata Brito (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/de Vitoria) and Anna Savitskaya (St. Petersburg, Russia/St. Petersburg Academy).
Fresno State picked up its fifth and deciding point at No. 3 doubles as Fichtbauer and Kelly Ramirez (Ontario, CA/Rancho Cucamonga HS) defeated Cinny Clausen (Freedom, NH/Kennett HS) and Savitskaya 8-1. After the outcome had been decided, Clemson picked up a third point >from its No. 2 doubles team of Carmina Giraldo (Pereira, South America/Liceo Frances) and Galvin.
“The combination of a three-week break from competition, final exams and traveling cross-country was difficult for us,” Clemson head coach Nancy Harris said. “But we have to hand it to Fresno State, because they played very solid tennis today. We had some opportunities, but just didn’t play our best tennis. I thought we had a wonderful season. This is a great group of women that fought through a lot of adversity this season.”
#39 Fresno State 5, #23 Clemson 3
Singles
No. 1 – #41 Kim Niggemeyer (FS) d. #26 Carmina Giraldo, 6-1, 6-1 No. 2 – Kandiss Creighton (FS) d. Catherine Galvin, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 No. 3 – Renata Brito (C) d. Renee Kops-Jones, 7-5, 6-3 No. 4 – Liesl Fichtbauer (FS) d. Laurence Jayet, 6-0, 6-0 No. 5 – Anke Beier (FS) d. Christina Oldock, 0-6, 6-4, 6-3 No. 6 – Anna Savitskaya (C) d. Ewa Grusiecka, 6-1, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 – Renata Brito/Laurence Jayet (C) vs. Kim Niggemeyer/Renee Kops-Jones (FS), suspended @ 5-4 Clem.
No. 2 – Carmina Giraldo/Catherine Galvin (C) d. Kandiss Creighton/Anke Beier, 8-2
No. 3 – Liesl Fichtbauer/Kelly Ramirez (FS) d. Anna Savitskaya/Cinny Clausen, 8-1* (deciding match)
Records – #39 Fresno State 16-8, #23 Clemson 15-7.
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