Josipa Bek, Keri Wong Set for NCAA Singles and Doubles Championship – UPDATE

May 24, 2011

NCAA Singles & Doubles Championship Links:Tournament Home Page | Updated Doubles Bracket | Updated Singles Bracket

***May 25 5:50 pm UPDATE: Play resumed after a 3-hour delay at 5:15 pm. Georgia’s Gullickson defeated Clemson’s Wong, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, with the match coming to a close shortly before 6:00 pm eastern. ClemsonTigers.com will have a full recap upon completion of Josipa Bek’s match Wednesday night.

***May 25 4:10 pm UPDATE: The matches are in a rain delay at the Taube Tennis Center, with later match times not yet determined. Keri Wong leads Chelsey Gullickson (UGA), 6-4, 2-3 (30-15) in the second set in their singles match, while Bek was originally scheduled to play at 9:00 pm, but could be pushed back due to the weather delay, which has surpassed two hours.

Also, due to withdrawals, Bek and Wong will take on Kristi Boxx and Abby Guthrie of Mississippi at a time that will be determined later in the doubles portion on Thursday.

***May 24 9:00 pm UPDATE: The brackets have been released for the matchups. Wong will open play against 2010 NCAA Singles Champion Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia at 1:00 pm eastern. Bek opens play on Wednesday at 9:00 pm eastern against Stanford’s Stacey Tan, who is playing in Tuesday’s National Championship Match. The duo will open doubles play no earlier than 2:00 pm on Thursday against Stanford’s team of Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs.***

Original Release:

Clemson junior All-ACC selections Josipa Bek and Keri Wong will begin their charge toward a National Championship at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford, CA on Wednesday. Both players will compete in the 64-player singles portion, and they will team up for the 32-team doubles field.

Live scoring and video will be available at GoStanford.com.

Both players have been in Stanford since May 16, as the team played a Sweet 16 match against Florida on May 20. Florida came out on top, 4-1, in the nail-biter, but Bek played some of her best tennis of the year in that match and toward the end of the season.

The players will learn their draws at the conclusion of the team National Championship between Florida and Stanford on Tuesday night.

Singles play begins Wednesday, and doubles play starts up on Thursday. The round of 32 for both will be Thursday, the Sweet 16 on Friday, Quarterfinals Saturday, Semifinals on Sunday, and Championship matches Monday, May 30.

Bek has earned a national 9-16 seed in singles. She closed the regular season ranked 11th in the ITA singles poll after playing the entire season at No. 1 singles for the Tigers, who advanced to the Sweet 16 for the fifth straight season. Bek is 32-10 on the year, and this will be her third appearance in the national tournament, where she has a 2-2 all-time mark, including reaching the Sweet 16 as a freshman in 2009.

Wong earned her second straight All-ACC honor, closing the season at 26-13 overall. Wong closed the season strong, winning 10 of her final 13 matches, including four over ranked opponents. She is ranked 48th in the latest singles poll, and this will be her first career appearance in the singles championship.

As a duo, the pair have put together one of the finest seasons in school history. In addition to a school single-season record of 30 wins together, both Bek and Wong have matched or surpassed the previous single-season mark for doubles wins. Bek closed the year with a 36-12 mark, while Wong is 35-13 overall.

The duo reached the nation’s No. 1 ranking earlier in the spring, and currently sit at No. 6 nationally. Bek will be making her third appearance in the doubles portion, and she is 3-2 in her career. Wong participated as a freshman, but fell with Ani Mijacika in the first round in 2009.

They have reached the finals of two other major tournaments, the ITA All-American and the ITA National Indoor Championships, and won the Carolina Region Doubles title in October.