Women’s Tennis Ranked 18th In Final Fila/ITA Tennis Poll

June 2, 2006

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson women’s tennis team earned the #18 ranking in the final Fila/ITA Tennis poll of the 2006 season. The Tigers posted a 17-8 overall record for the year, while going 8-3 in Atlantic Coach Conference matches. It marks the fourth consecutive year that Clemson has been ranked in the top 20, the first time the program has accomplished the feat since 1980-87. The final ranking is also the 20th overall top 25 ranking in Tiger women’s tennis history. Clemson received a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season and hosted an NCAA regional for the third year in a row. The Tigers fell in the regional final to 20th-ranked Kentucky.

In the Fila/ITA Tennis individual polls, Clemson student-athletes Carol Salge and Federica van Adrichem earned national rankings. Van Adrichem, a freshman from Amersfoort, The Netherlands, was listed 55th in the final poll. She compiled a 22-14 record during the 2005-06 season, with a 12-9 dual-match singles mark. She received an at-large bid to the NCAA Singles Championships, where she defeated Emma Murphy of San Diego in the opening round before falling to William & Mary’s Megan Moulton-Levy in the second round.

Salge was earned the #63 ranking in the final singles poll. The native of San Roque, Brazil posted a 24-10 overall ledger in the fall and spring seasons combined, while going 17-6 in dual matches. Salge earned 2006 All-ACC honors after boasting a 9-2 record against conference opponents, including three singles victories over ranked opponents at the flight one position. She also competed in the NCAA Singles Championships, falling in her opening match to Riza Zalameda of UCLA in three sets.

Salge and van Adrichem were also listed 21st in the doubles rankings. The Tiger tandem finished the season with a 12-9 overall record, with five of their nine losses coming to teams then-ranked in the top-10. Salge and van Adrichem also defeated five ranked teams during the spring season, including victories over the then-ranked #9 team from Georgia and Georgia Tech’s 11th-ranked team. The Clemson duo was defeated in the round of 32 of the NCAA doubles tournament by Carine Vermeulen and Dianne Matias of Southern California.