1998 NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
May 21-29
Courtney Tennis Center
University of Notre Dame
Florida 5, Duke 1
Singles
Dawn Buth (F) def. Vanessa Webb, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
M.C. White (F) def. Kristin Sanderson, 7-6 (4), 6-2
Stephanie Nickitas (F) def. Megan Miller, 6-3, 6-2
Whitney Laiho (F) def. Karen Goldstein, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
Stephanie Hazlett (F) def. Kathy Sell, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3
Laura Zifer (D) def. Traci Green, 6-3, 6-4
Doubles
did not play
Post Match Quotes
Florida Head Coach Andy Brandi
On his thoughts about the way his team played:
"We played some very tough matches today. Everyone of our girls played outstanding tennis today. I am very proud of how they play they all gave a hundred and ten percent to win this tournament. everyone one of theses ladies worked hard all season to achieve this championship."
On M. C. Whites break point in the first set
: " That was huge for our team it was a very big momentum shifter. It relived allot of pressure on the other two matches going on around her. I think it was the main turning point in the games for us."
On the loss of his Senior leaders:
"It will be a large vacancy that will need to be filled next year. I think that we have some good people that we can rely on next year."
On Winning the National Championship
: "It was a great feeling to win this against such tough team. Duke gave us a run for our money today. We can out on top like I thought we would. This will be short lived for us, because tomorrow we start with three girls in the Singles tournament. We will really celebrate when we get back to Florida."
Florida Player Stephanie Hazlett:
On getting the momentum in her match:
" I knew that if I stuck to my game plan that I could win the match. I knew what I had to do to win it was just a matter of hanging in there until I could get the momentum to go my way. I just had to be in control to win the match."
Florida Player Stephanie Nickitas:
On the leader ship of Dawn Buth
: "It was incredible what she did every match to win. It is inspiring for the rest of us to watch her play, because she always gives all that she has. Nothing can stop her no matter what it may be she will always play through it. The way she battled back today did not surprise us at all. We all knew that she would do it."
Florida Player Dawn Buth:
On this being the last team match she played:
"This is the best way I could have ever though of ending my team career. It was nice to finish on a winning note. I am very proud of the way this team played today."
Duke Head Coach Jamie Ashworth
On the match:
"All day on the matches Florida won; they played the bigger points. They were inside the baseline on most of the points, controlling the points and putting pressure on us. We were sitting back a little back and were not as aggressive as we could have been. Florida got off to a great start and had the momentum. When Laura (Zifer) won the first set it seemed to pick everyone up, and we took some of the momentum back. But at the end of the matches, Florida's aggressive play took the momentum back."
On Florida:
"Every year Andy Brandi's teams step it up under pressure. They hit the ball and forced us to do something. Andy does such a good job of getting his players inside the baseline and controlling points, that right from the first ball its hard to take control of the point."
On his team:
"At the beginning of the year, we didn't really know what to expect. We lost five of our top seven players from a year ago. But the way this team has come together, I said all year that it's going to carry us, and it did carry us. If you would have bet me in September if we were going to be in the finals playing Florida having beaten Stanford, I would have taken that bet in a second. But the way we've come together, we're a great team, and no one can take that away from these girls."
Duke Player Laura Zifer
On the possibility of an emotional letdown
: "We weren't worried about an emotional letdown after playing Stanford. Winning the national championships has been our goal all year. As soon as we beat Stanford, everyone was saying 'One more to go,' and not 'We did it, we did it.' All my teammates were saying that we were going to do it tomorrow. There was no indication that we were satisfied with just beating Stanford."
On her play:
"I played really well. I was really nervous at the very end of the match, but I just pretended that I was in a practice match situation and just played the way that I have played the whole year. I was happy with my performance."
On the season
: "This was my favorite season at Duke. We had two freshmen come in and do a great job. We just had so many leaders, but at the same time, we all worked together as a team, which is something with which we've had a lot of trouble at in the past. We really care about each other, and that's why we were here today."
The Gators show their post-match excitement while being interviewed by ESPN. The delayed ESPN broadcast will be shown Wednesday, May 27 (check local listings).
Florida senior Dawn Buth rallied from a break down to win the final three games for a 1-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Duke's Vanessa Webb, giving Florida a 4-1 lead in the team score. Webb is the #2 seed in next week's NCAA singles competition while Buth entered the week #11 in the ITA rankings.
Florida head coach Andy Brandi and the Gators accept their championship trophy.
Seniors Bonnie Bleecker (left) and Dawn Buth hoist their second NCAA championship trophy in the last three years.
Florida sophomore M.C. White won a first-set tiebreaker (6-4) over Duke junior Kristin Sanderson before taking the second set 6-2 in the #2 singles action.
