Women’s Tennis Defeats William & Mary in First Round of NCAA Championships

May 11, 2002

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The 40th-ranked Clemson women’s tennis team defeated 16th-ranked William & Mary by a score of 4-3 in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships held at Wake Forest’s Indoor Tennis Center on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Tigers improve to 14-10 overall, while William & Mary falls to 19-8. This was Clemson’s first win in the NCAA Tournament since May 5, 1996, when the Tigers defeated Georgia by a score of 5-4 in Columbia, SC.

In doubles action, Clemson’s 39th-ranked duo of Laurence Jayet and Alix Lacelarie dropped an 8-3 decision to 16th-ranked Jessyca Arthur and Candice Fuchs of William & Mary at flight one. At number two doubles, Anna Dolinska and Anna Savitskaya of Clemson defeated the Tribes’ Kari Olsen and Amy Wei, 8-5. The Tigers’ Richele LeSaldo and Milena Stanoycheva were victorious at flight three doubles over Angela Buergis and Lena Sherbakov of William & Mary by a score of 8-4.

In singles play, 32nd-ranked Lacelarie of Clemson clinched the victory for the Tigers with a 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 win over #56 Arthur of William & Mary at flight one. At number two singles, the Tigers’ Savitskaya fell to #101 Fuchs of the Tribe by a score of 6-2, 6-3. Clemson’s Ana Stiglic dropped a 7-5, 6-2 decision at three singles to the Tribes’ Buergis. The Tigers’ Jayet was victorious at flight four over William & Mary’s Sherbakov by a score of 6-4, 6-3. At flight five singles, Clemson’s Ioana Paun dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to Wei of William & Mary. Tiger senior Stanoycheva defeated the Tribes’ Nina Kamp by a score of 7-5, 6-2 at number six singles.

Clemson head coach Nancy Harris said, “I’d like to say the competition was terrific. It was a great fight. It’s unfortunate someone had to lose. William & Mary was the higher-ranked team, but we knew we have a highly talented team. We’ve taken some really good teams to the wire this season, it just seems like we could never get the win against those teams. But we’ve gotten better every week. This match came down to the way we executed, the way we fought. We had to keep our poise under pressure, and the way we had to come from behind in several matches speaks highly of our desire and courage.”

Clemson will take on the winner of eighth-ranked Wake Forest vs. American on Sun., May 12 in the second round of the NCAA Championship. The match will be played at Wake Forest’s Leighton Tennis Stadium and is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. The NCAA women’s tennis team championship will be held in Stanford, CA on May 16-19.

Clemson 4, William & Mary 3 Singles #1 #32 Alix Lacelarie (CU) def. #56 Jessyca Arthur (WM) 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 #2 #101 Candice Fuchs (WM) def. Anna Savitskaya (CU) 6-2, 6-3 #3 Angela Buergis (WM) def. Ana Stiglic (CU) 7-5, 6-2 #4 Laurence Jayet (CU) def. Lena Sherbakov (WM) 6-4, 6-3 #5 Amy Wei (WM) def. Ioana Paun (CU) 6-3, 6-4 #6 Milena Stanoycheva (CU) def. Nina Kamp (WM) 7-5, 6-2

Doubles #1 #16 Arthur and Fuchs (WM) def. #39 Jayet and Lacelarie (CU) 8-3 #2 Anna Dolinska and Savitskaya (CU) def. Kari Olsen and Wei (WM) 8-5 #3 Richele LeSaldo and Stanoycheva (CU) def. Buergis and Sherbakov (WM) 8-4